Astronomers have found the key ingredients essential for life in a distant star-forming cloud.

These molecules are needed for the formation of amino acids, which are the basis of genetic material, making them essential in the development of the first microorganisms on Earth.

The prebiotic molecules were found in a star cluster within the Perseus Molecular Cloud, called IC348. 

The Perseus Molecular Cloud is a collection of gas and dust over 500 light-years across and hosts an abundance of young stars. It was imaged in 2019 by Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

Susan Iglesias-Groth, of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and Martina Marín-Dobrincicof the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, discovered the presence of numerous prebiotic molecules in the star formation region IC348 of the Perseus Molecular Cloud, a young star cluster some 2-3million years old.

The Perseus Cloud is one of the star-forming regions closest to the solar system. Many of its stars are young, and have protoplanetary disks where the physical processes which give rise to planets can take place.

The new research has detected common molecules such as molecular hydrogen, hydroxyl, water, carbon dioxide and ammonia in the inner part of the star cluster.

Researchers also found several carbon-bearing molecules which could play an important role in the production of more complex hydrocarbons and prebiotic molecules, such as hydrogen cyanide, acetylene, ethane, benzene etc.

‘It is an extraordinary laboratory of organic chemistry,’ said Iglesias-Groth. ‘These are complex molecules of pure carbon which often occur as building blocks for the key molecules of life.’

‘IC 348 seems to be very rich and diverse in its molecular content,’ states Iglesias-Gorth. ‘The novelty is that we see the molecules in the diffuse gas from which stars and protoplanetary disks are forming.’

According to the study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the presence of prebiotic molecules so close to this star cluster suggests the possibility of the formation of young planets that could support organic molecules.

‘These key molecules could have been supplied to the nascent planets in the protoplanetary disks and could in this way help to produce there a route towards the molecules of life,’ said Marina-Dobrincic.

The discovery is based on data taken with Nasa’s Spitzer satellite and the next step will be to use the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for further investigation.

‘The spectroscopic capacity of the JWST could provide details about the spatial distribution of all these molecules, and extend the present search to others which are more complex, giving higher sensitivity and resolution which are essential to confirm the very probable presence of amino acids in the gas in this and in other star forming regions,’ said Iglesias-Groth.

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