'Unexpectedly' Complex Molecule Found In Space
Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 18:28
in Astronomy & Space
What is really happening in apparently empty areas of the Galaxy? It may get a rethink because scientists have managed to find a molecule that has an unexpectedly complicated structure in interstellar clouds of extremely small density. Translucent interstellar clouds are penetrated by highly energetic ultraviolet and cosmic radiation which should break any chemical species it meets but a group of scientists have managed to observe in those clouds a molecule made up of an unexpectedly large number of atoms: the diacetylene cation; a discovery which may contribute to solving the oldest unsolved puzzle of spectroscopy. The density of translucent interstellar clouds is extremely small. read more