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Stellar molecules are molecules that exist or form in stars. Such formations can take place when the temperature is low enough for molecules to form – typically around 6,000 K (5,730 °C; 10,340 °F) or cooler. [1] Otherwise the stellar matter is restricted to atoms and ions in the forms of gas or – at very high temperatures – plasma.
For example, radio astronomy is most sensitive to small linear molecules with a high molecular dipole. [3] The most common molecule in the Universe, H 2 ( molecular hydrogen ), is completely invisible to radio telescopes because it has no dipole; [ 3 ] its electronic transitions are too energetic for optical telescopes, so detection of H 2 ...
Water is one of the simplest molecules, composed of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, and can be found in all celestial bodies of the solar system. However, water is only useful for life in a liquid state, and extraterrestrial water is commonly found as water vapor or ice. Liquid water also has several properties that are beneficial for lifeforms.
Cosmic dust – also called extraterrestrial dust, space dust, or star dust – is dust that occurs in outer space or has fallen onto Earth. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 μm ), such as micrometeoroids (<30 μm) and meteoroids (>30 μm). [ 3 ]
The hydroxyl surface groups (X–OH) formed by the reaction of protons (H +) with oxygen atoms accessible at oxide surface (X=O) could further be converted in water molecules (H 2 O) adsorbed onto the oxide mineral's surface. The mass balance of a chemical rearrangement supposed at the oxide surface could be schematically written as follows:
Of the gas in the ISM, by number 91% of atoms are hydrogen and 8.9% are helium, with 0.1% being atoms of elements heavier than hydrogen or helium, [3] known as "metals" in astronomical parlance. By mass this amounts to 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, and 1.5% heavier elements.
When combined with the carbon present in carbonaceous chondrites (more likely to have high water content), these can synthesize oxygen and methane (both storable in space with a passive thermal design, unlike hydrogen), oxygen and methanol, etc. As an in-space resource, asteroidal mass does not need to be lifted out of a gravity well.
In the thirty years afterwards, a small selection of other molecules were discovered in interstellar space: the most important being OH, discovered in 1963 and significant as a source of interstellar oxygen, [8] and H 2 CO (formaldehyde), discovered in 1969 and significant for being the first observed organic, polyatomic molecule in ...