韋伯望遠鏡揭開了恆星前期化學冰分子的黑暗面

國際天文學家小組使用了(美國太空總署/歐洲太空總署/加拿大太空總署)詹姆斯．韋伯太空望遠鏡並宣布，目前在觀測的分子雲上最黑暗、最寒冷的區域發現到多種的冰分子。這一研究結果使天文學家能夠檢測將被納入未來太陽系外行星的簡單的冰分子，同時也可了解其他更複雜分子的起源，這些是創造生命起源的第一步。國立清華大學天文所何英宏助理教授積極參與了這些初步成果。January 26, 2023: The discovery of diverse ices in the darkest, coldest regions of a molecular cloud measured to date has been announced by an international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This result allows astronomers to examine the simple icy molecules that will be incorporated into future exoplanets while opening a new window on the origin of more complex molecules that are the first step in the creation of the building blocks of life. The Institute of Astronomy is part of this large international collaboration project that utilizes JWST. Prof. Daniel Harsono is a member of the ERS Ice Age project and is heavily involved in the radiative transfer modeling aspects that include solid-state features of molecules within the ice and dust. He is funded by the CICA and (partial) Yu Shan grants from the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Taiwan. Prof. Daniel Harsono is also funded by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of Taiwan. With these data as delivered by the Ice Age program, it will be possible to search for complex organics in the solid state around young protostars. One of the aims of the research group in the IoA is to understand the origin of life in the universe.

Link:https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-unveils-dark-side-of-pre-stellar-ice-chemistry