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D. Young (2011) The Galactic Center
The universe is replete with fat-like molecules. Carbon is represented by gray spheres and hydrogen by white.
The universe is rich in molecules similar to fat.
And this "fat" is so abundant that a ship traveling in interstellar space would end up with its windshield coated with a sticky substance, according to Chemist Tim Schmidt ] of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Schmidt and his colleagues at Ege University in Turkey made materials in a laboratory with the same properties as interstellar dust.
they discovered that there are about 100 fatty carbon atoms per million atoms of hydrogen, accounting for between one quarter and one half of the available carbon.
In the Milky Way, this equates to about 10 billion trillions of tons of fat is enough for 40 trillion trillion trillion packets of butter, scientists said in a statement.
But the special fat is very different from the edible.
"You would not want to spread this space fat on a slice of bread! It is dirty, probably toxic and only forms in the interstellar space environment and in our laboratory" , Schmidt said.
"Intriguing"
Carbon is one of the essential elements of life, but it is unclear how abundant it is in space.
Half of the carbon is among the stars in pure form, the rest is chemically bound in two forms: so-called aliphatic carbon, which is similar to fat, and aromatic carbon, similar to that found in mothballs. [19659016] Copyright of the Image
NASA / CXC / PSU / K. Getman et al., NASA IRL / JPL-Caltec
Scientists developed a plasma containing carbon under vacuum at low temperature, mimicking the process by which organic molecules are synthesized in carbon starflows.
Schmidt and his colleagues badyzed the material using two techniques: Magnetic Resonance and Spectroscopy which divides light into its constituent wavelengths.
The researchers thus determined to what extent the material absorbed light with a given length of "The combination of our laboratory results with observations from astronomical observatories allows us to measure the amount of aliphatic carbon between us and the stars, "Schmidt said in a statement. 19659007] "It is also intriguing that organic matter of this type, which is incorporated in planetary systems, is so abundant." [19659013] "The greatest story"
The team now wants to determine the abundance of aromatic carbon. Carbon is made in stars … and is incorporated in new planetary systems and in life. This is part of a great story, the biggest one that exists Tim Schmidt By determining the amount of each type of carbon in interstellar dust, scientists will be able to determine how much carbon is available to create life. This research helps us to understand the great life cycle of carbon "said Schmidt. It is made in stars, pbades through the interstellar medium and is incorporated into the new planetary systems and life. It's part of a great story, the biggest one exists. "
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