A remarkable discovery in space by the James Webb telescope: an unknown molecule identified thanks to the Toulouse team

In the infinitely large space, an international research team, coordinated by Olivier Bernier at the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetary Science (IRAP) in Toulouse(1), has discovered a small detail that for many astrophysicists could be a trophy. Thanks to the powerful eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope, developed by NASA, no molecule has yet been detected. Its carbon-based composition is also of interest to anyone seeking to explain the origins of planet formation and life on Earth. This was just a discovery Published in the journal Nature.

A survey of 1,350 light-years away

It all started with observations in the Orion Nebula. Selected to exploit the first images of the new James Webb Space Telescope, Olivier Bernier’s team decided to target this nursery of stars, closest to Earth, to obtain new data on the formation of an environment similar to our solar system. The first images, in September 2022, were so accurate that the scientists continued their investigative work by examining many details.

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Between January 31 and February 1, 2023, they recorded a mysterious signal from d203-506, a protoplanetary disk forming around a young star. At IRAP, Amelie Kanin and Ilan Schroeter, two engineers from the lab, were able to process data transmitted by the James Webb Space Telescope almost directly.

The investigation begins. First by paring back scientific indexes. But there is no lab data that matches this mysterious signal, captured 1,350 light-years away. “This means that the molecule may have never been studied, it was necessary to call specialists to analyze the spectra,” explains Olivier Bernet, CNRS researcher, astrophysicist at IRAP.

One carbon atom, three hydrogen atoms

Marie-Alain Martin-Drumel, a CNRS researcher in molecular physics at the University of Paris-Saclay, is one such specialist. She asserts that “the difficulty was trying to understand a signal without having an equivalent in the laboratory, only in terms of the appearance, intensity, and frequency of the spectrum.” “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d go so far as to be able to give it a name,” Olivier Bernier admits.

This mysterious molecule is called a methyl cation, or CH3+. “It’s a very small molecule consisting of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms with a positive charge. But essential, it’s involved in creating ever more complex chemical networks. Here we have a missing link to interstellar chemistry: ions like CH3+ are molecules with very short lives, and they may exist CH3+ on Earth but in combustion phenomena that we cannot isolate,” explains Mary Allen Martin Drummel.

Adds Olivier Bernier: “This methyl cation is an essential element in organic chemistry. Chemists hypothesized its existence in the 1970s, but since the molecule was never discovered, the hypothesis of its existence was abandoned.”

The primary role of ultraviolet radiation

The researchers also understood that what made possible the formation of this CH3+ molecule was the presence of young, massive stars nearby that emit intense ultraviolet radiation. This radiation, which should naturally destroy organic molecules, has, on the contrary, favored the formation of a methyl cation and may have preceded the existence of water molecules. The astrophysicist concludes, “The planetary system in formation d203-506 is immersed in a field of ultraviolet light that played a role in chemistry and thus in planet formation. Meteorite specialists are also very interested in our discovery.”