Webb Reveals the Chemical Secret of a Distant Galaxy ⚡ экспресс
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists peered into a distant galaxy resembling a blazing city and found a cocktail of simple hydrocarbons, including benzene and acetylene. There are too many of them to have formed through ordinary means—they most likely 'chip off' large carbon dust grains, like sparks from a bonfire. Could it be that the centers of other galaxies also host their own raging chemical kitchens?
Astronomers using James Webb and spectroscopy (splitting light into colors) peered through dust into the center of galaxy IRAS 07251-0248. There they discovered benzene, acetylene, methane — the same hydrocarbons found in gasoline and plastics. There are hundreds of times more than expected, and hot gas alone can't produce such amounts. The key lies in cosmic dust, rich in carbon. Cosmic rays bombard dust grains, acting like a jackhammer: they knock ready-made molecules out of them.
These molecules leave the core at a speed of 160 kilometers per second and can re-clump into dust of a new composition. Similar chemical factories, hidden behind dust, operate in other galaxies as well, filling the cosmos with organic matter.
🎯 Benzene — a component of gasoline and plastics — has been found for the first time outside our Galaxy; previously it had only been spotted in the Milky Way.