The Universe has billions of stars and planets, one of them Earth, where life has emerged successfully. Scientists investigate how the conditions were necessary for life to develop in our world.
To do this, a team of astronomers has tracked the interstellar phosphorus trip, present in our DNA and in our cell membranes. This is an essential element for life as we know it. Nevertheless, We still don’t know how he got to the primitive Earth.
“Life appeared on Earth about 4 billion years ago, but we still don’t know the processes that made it possible,” says Victor Rivilla, lead author of the study published in the magazine Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The researchers used the capabilities of ALMA and the Rosetta probe of the European Space Agency (ESA) to Determine the phosphorus path from star-forming regions to comets.
His findings show, for the first time, “Where phosphorus-containing molecules are formed, how this element is transported in comets, and how a particular molecule may have played a crucial role in the beginning of life on our planet, ”details ESA.
Thus, astronomers analyzed the star-forming region AFGL 5142 and identified the place where phosphorus-bearing molecules are formed, such as phosphorus monoxide.
According to the authors, the regions of the Universe where new stars and planetary systems are born are “The ideal places to start the search for the basic bricks necessary for the construction of life”.
It shows the interstellar phosphorus path, one of the basic bricks for the construction of life.
The scientists determined that phosphorus carrying molecules are created as massive stars are formed. “Gas flows emanating from young massive stars open cavities in interstellar clouds. On the walls of these cavities, phosphorus-containing molecules are formed through the combined action of shocks and radiation from the star that is being born. ”
After detecting this molecule in the regions of formation, the team did the same with the famous comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which is located in the Solar System, with the aim of finding the same molecule and being able to extrapolate how it reached bodies of this type.
Astronomers managed to detect the molecule at 67 / P, thus becoming the first detection of phosphorus monoxide in a comet, which It helps astronomers establish a connection between the star-forming regions, where the molecule is created, to Earth.
“The combination of ALMA and ROSINA data has revealed a kind of chemical thread throughout the star formation process in which phosphorus monoxide plays the main role ”, explains Rivilla, researcher at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory of the INAF (National Institute of Astrophysics of Italy).
“Phosphorus is essential for life as we know it”adds Kathrin Altwegg, principal investigator of Rosina. “Since comets are very likely to provide large amounts of organic compounds to Earth, the phosphorus monoxide detected in comet 67P it can strengthen the link between comets and life on Earth. ”
“Understanding our cosmic origins, including how common the favorable chemical conditions are for the emergence of life, is an important issue of modern astrophysics,” concludes Leonardo Testi, an ESO astronomer and responsible for ALMA operations in Europe.
