Stellar Bakeries: Two Suns, One Organic Recipe ⚡ экспресс
Using the ALMA radio telescope, scientists studied the binary protostellar system HOPS-288, where two stars are forming from a common gas-dust cloud. Around each, they discovered 'hot corinos' – compact warm regions rich in complex organic molecules (COMs), which are considered the building blocks of prebiotic chemistry. Interestingly, a small cloud of methanol was also found between the stars – possibly a shock front or material flowing from one to the other. Surprisingly, the set and concentration of key organic compounds in both 'sisters' turned out to be very similar, hinting that in multiple systems the chemical inheritance is distributed roughly equally, like a family fortune.
In the stellar nursery HOPS-288, where three suns are forming, the ALMA telescope revealed two scorching regions around a pair of them. At –170°C, ice on cosmic dust melts, and reactions bubble up in the gas: organic molecules are born — methanol and methyl formate. The latter gives raspberries their aroma; in this cosmic cloud 1,300 light-years away, a familiar berry scent lingers.
Thanks to spectroscopy — scientists identify molecules by their radio signals, much like fingerprints — it was proven that the ‘ingredients’ match. If this is standard in binary systems, the search for life becomes simpler.
🎯 Methyl formate — an ester found in the HOPS-288 cloud — is used on Earth as a raspberry-scented food flavoring.