A cosmic cocktail (Picture: Getty/SWNS)
Scientists say they have found the ingredients for a margarita cocktail in space.
Using Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, researchers have identified the required chemical ingredients for the drink surrounding two young protostars.
‘What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in common?’ asked the Webb Mission Team.
‘They contain chemical ingredients that Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope has identified surrounding two young protostars known as IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385.’
An international team of astronomers used Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to identify a variety of icy compounds made up of complex organic molecules like ethanol – alcohol – and likely acetic acid, an ingredient in vinegar.
They added: ‘Although planets are not yet forming around those stars, these and other molecules detected there by Webb represent key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds.’
The James Webb Space Telescope is making some remarkable discoveries (Picture: Nasa/ SWNS)
This work builds on previous Webb detections of diverse ices in a cold, dark molecular cloud.
‘This finding contributes to one of the long-standing questions in astrochemistry,’ said team leader Will Rocha, of Leiden University in the Netherlands.
‘What is the origin of complex organic molecules, or COMs, in space? Are they made in the gas phase or in ices? The detection of COMs in ices suggests that solid-phase chemical reactions on the surfaces of cold dust grains can build complex kinds of molecules.’
The science team also detected simpler molecules, including formic acid – which causes the burning sensation of an ant sting – methane, formaldehyde and sulphur dioxide.
Research suggests that sulphur-containing compounds like sulfur dioxide played an important role in driving metabolic reactions on the primitive Earth.
The team is particularly intrigued by IRAS 2A, as it is characterised as a low-mass protostar.
‘IRAS 2A may therefore be similar to the early stages of our own solar system,’ Nasa said. ‘As such, the chemicals identified around this protostar may have been in the first stages of development of our solar system and later delivered to the primitive Earth.’
A star is born
Molecular clouds are cold, which causes gas to clump and create high-density pockets
When these clumps collide, they gather more gravitational force
Eventually, gravity causes some of these clumps to collapse, and friction causes the material to heat up
This creates a baby star, known as a protostar
Dr Ewine van Dishoeck, also from Leiden University, said: ‘All of these molecules can become part of comets and asteroids and eventually new planetary systems when the icy material is transported inward to the planet-forming disk as the protostellar system evolves.
‘We look forward to following this astrochemical trail step-by-step with more Webb data in the coming years.’
This research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The team dedicated the results to team member Harold Linnartz, who unexpectedly passed away in December 2023, shortly after the acceptance of this paper.