The large far infrared spectrometer is mounted on the telescope of the SOFIA flying observatory. The instrument was used to detect the first molecule in the universe. (Photo: Carlos Duran, Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy)

Researchers using a NASA aerial observatory have detected for the first time in space the oldest molecule in the universe.

Helium hydride, or HeH +, is formed just after the Big Bang, nearly 14 billion years ago, scientists at the Institute said. German radio astronomy Max Planck.

The team used a telescope embedded in NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, also known as SOFIA, to detect the molecule in a planetary nebula.

"The lack of definitive evidence of its very existence in interstellar space has long been a dilemma for astronomy," says Rolf Güsten of the Max Planck Institute and lead author of a study on the discovery published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, in a statement.

Scientists have been studying helium hydride in space since 1925, the year the molecule was created in a laboratory, NASA said.

According to NASA, the first universe was hot after the Big Bang, with mostly existing hydrogen and helium atoms at the time. Once these atoms fused to form molecules, such as helium hydride, the universe began to cool down.

"This leads a long search to a happy ending and eliminates doubts about our understanding of the chemistry underlying the first universe," Güsten said in a statement.

Researchers used the GREAT spectrometer, an instrument similar to a radio receiver, onboard the SOFIA airborne observatory to detect the molecule.

"This molecule was hiding there, but we needed the right instruments to make the observations in the right position – and SOFIA was able to do it perfectly," said Harold Yorke, director of the SOFIA Science Center, in a statement. .

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @ brettmolina23.

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