Pressemeddelelse

Brintoverilte fundet i rummet

6. juli 2011

Brintoveriltemolekyler er for første gang blevet fundet i det interstellare rum. Opdagelsen giver ny viden om den kemiske kobling mellem de to molekyler, der er nødvendige for liv: vand og ilt. På Jorden spiller brintoverilte en nøglerolle i kemien med vand og ozon i vores planets atmosfære og er kendt som desinfektionsmiddel eller til at afblege hår med. Nu er det blevet fundet i rummet af astronomer, som har anvendt APEX-teleskopet i Chile, der drives af ESO.

Et internationalt hold af astronomer gjorde opdagelsen med Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope (APEX), der står på den 5000 meter høje Chajnantor-slette i de chilenske Andesbjerge. De observerede et område i vores galakse tæt på stjernen Rho Ophiuchi, omkring 400 lysår væk. Området indeholder meget kolde (cirka -250 grader Celsius), tætte skyer af kosmisk gas og støv, hvor nye stjerner bliver født. Skyerne er hovedsagelig lavet af brint, men indeholder også små mængder af andre stoffer og er de primære mål for astronomer, der leder efter molekyler i rummet. Teleskoper som APEX, der laver observationer ved millimeter- og submillimeterbølgelængder, er ideelle til at fange signaler fra disse molekyler.

Nu har holdet fundet den karakteristiske signatur af stråling udsendt fra brintoverilte, der kommer fra dele af Rho Ophiuchi-skyerne.

”Vi blev meget begejstrede over at finde signaturerne fra brintoverilte med APEX. Vi vidste fra laboratorieeksperimenter, hvilke bølgelængder vi skulle kigge efter, men mængden af brintoverilte i skyerne er kun et molekyle for hver ti milliarder brintmolekyler, så registreringen krævede meget omhyggelige observationer,” fortæller Per Bergman, der er astronom ved Onsala Space Observatory i Sverige. Bergman er hovedforfatter af undersøgelsen, der bliver offentliggjort i tidsskriftet Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Brintoverilte (H2O2) er et nøglemolekyle for både astronomer og kemikere. Dannelsen af molekylet er tæt forbundet med to velkendte molekyler, ilt og vand, der er nødvendige for liv. Fordi meget af vandet på vores planet formodes oprindelig at være opstået i rummet, vil forskere meget gerne forstå, hvordan det er dannet [1].

Brintoverilte menes at blive dannet i rummet på overfladen af kosmiske støvkorn – meget fine partikler, der minder om sand og sod – når brint (H) bliver føjet til iltmolekyler (O2). En videre reaktion mellem brintoverilten og mere brint er en måde at lave vand på (H2O). Denne nye opdagelse af brintoverilte vil derfor hjælpe astronomer med bedre at forstå dannelsen af vand i Universet.

”Vi forstår endnu ikke hvordan nogle af de vigtigste molekyler her på Jorden er dannet i rummet. Men vores opdagelse af brintoverilte med APEX, ser ud til at vise os, at kosmisk støv er den manglende ingrediens i processen,” siger Bérengère Parise, der er leder af forskningsgruppen Emmy Noether om stjernedannelse og astrokemi ved Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy i Tyskland, og medforfatter af artiklen.

At finde ud af, præcis hvordan oprindelsen af disse vigtige molekyler hænger sammen, kræver yderligere observationer af Rho Ophiuchi og andre stjernedannende skyer med fremtidige teleskoper som Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) – og hjælp fra kemikere i laboratorier på Jorden.

APEX er et samarbejde mellem Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR), Onsala Space Observatory (OSO) og ESO. Teleskopet bliver drevet af ESO.

Noter

[1] Den nye opdagelse af brintoverilte kan måske også hjælpe astronomer med at løse et andet interstellart mysterium: Hvorfor iltmolekyler er så svære at finde i rummet. Det var først i 2007, at iltmolekyler blev opdaget første gang i rummet af satellitten Odin.

Mere information

Denne forskning er udgivet i tidsskriftet Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Holdet består af P. Bergman (Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala, Sverige), B. Parise (Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Tyskland), R. Liseau (Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala, Sverige), B. Larsson (Stockholm University, Sverige), H. Olofsson (Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology), K. M. Menten (Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy) og R. Güsten (Max-Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy).

ESO, det Europæiske Syd Observatorium, er den mest fremtrædende internationale astronomi-organisation i Europa og verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium. ESO har i dag følgende 15 medlemslande: Belgien, Brasilien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Holland, Italien, Portugal, Schweiz og Storbritannien, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig. ESO’s aktiviteter er fokuseret på design, konstruktion og drift af jordbaserede observationsfaciliteter for at muliggøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser inden for astronomi. ESO spiller også en ledende rolle for at fremme og organisere samarbejdet inden for astronomisk forskning. I Chile driver ESO tre unikke observatorier i verdensklasse: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), der er verdens mest avancerede astronomiske observatorium til observationer i synligt lys samt to kortlægningsteleskoper. VISTA arbejder i infrarødt lys og er verdens største kortlægningsteleskop, mens VLT Survey Telescope (VST) er det største teleskop, der udelukkende er bygget til at kortlægge himlen i synligt lys. ESO er den europæiske partner i et revolutionerede astronomisk teleskop kaldet ALMA, det største igangværende astronomiske projekt. ESO planlægger i øjeblikket et 40 meter optisk/nær-infrarødt teleskop kaldet European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), der vil blive ”verdens største øje mod himlen”.

Links

Kontakter

Per Bergman
Onsala Space Observatory / Chalmers University of Technology
Sweden
Tel: +46 31 772 5500
Mobil: +46 70 239 1741
E-mail: per.bergman@chalmers.se

Bérengère Parise
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49 228 525 153
E-mail: bparise@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de

Douglas Pierce-Price
ESO, Public Information Officer
Garching, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6759
E-mail: dpiercep@eso.org

Ole J. Knudsen (Pressekontakt Danmark)
ESOs formidlingsnetværk og Aarhus Space Centre, Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus, Danmark
Tel: +45 8715 5597
E-mail: eson-denmark@eso.org

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Dette er en oversættelse af ESO pressemeddelelse eso1123 lavet af ESON - et netværk af personer i ESOs medlemslande, der er kontaktpunkter for medierne i forbindelse med ESO nyheder, pressemeddelelser mm.

Om pressemeddelelsen

Pressemeddelelse nr.:eso1123da
Navn:Rho Ophiuchi, Rho Oph SM 1
Type:Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Interstellar Medium
Facility:Atacama Pathfinder Experiment
Science data:2011A&A...531L...8B

Billeder

The Rho Ophiuchi star formation region, where hydrogen peroxide has been detected in space (annotated)
The Rho Ophiuchi star formation region, where hydrogen peroxide has been detected in space (annotated)
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk
The constellation Ophiuchus, showing the Rho Ophiuchi star formation region
The constellation Ophiuchus, showing the Rho Ophiuchi star formation region
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk

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