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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has detected, for the first time, a new carbon compound essential for the formation of life. The discovery was made by a team of international scientists.
Known as CH 3+, the molecule was detected in a young star system, called d203-506 and located in the Orion Nebula, about 1350 light years away from Earth.
According to the US space agency, the carbon compounds that “form the basis of all known life” are “particularly interesting” for understanding how life developed on Earth and “how it could develop elsewhere.” of our universe”.
Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel, a researcher at the University of Paris-Saclay, in France, explains that this discovery “not only validates the incredible sensitivity of Webb, but also confirms the importance of CH 3 in interstellar chemistry”.
Read more at TSF
