The James Webb space telescope still takes many photos and allows scientists to make major discoveries, but lately it seems a bit quieter around the colossus. Until now, because the space telescope has made an interesting discovery: alcohol.
Protostars and chemicals
He looked at two protostars called IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385. They are baby stars that are gathering mass and appear to be surrounded by ethanol, better known as alcohol. We talked about whiskey in space earlier this week, but it looks like you can make it yourself as an astronaut. Joking of course: the IRASs are very far away, but it is nice to know that those stars are doing laps in a space cocktail. In addition, a certain acid was also found, methane, formaldehyde and sulfur dioxide. In short, it is a pleasant gathering of a large collection of chemicals.
You would think that researchers would be interested in that alcohol, but that’s not so bad. They prefer to look at sulfur dioxide, which may play a major role in certain reactions that the Earth experienced when the planet was still in its infancy. Researchers believe that this discovery can contribute to an answer to the question of the origin of complex molecules in space.
Alcoholic refreshments
James Webb made the discovery with his infrared instrument. The chemicals were found in icy regions around the stars. No planets can yet be found around those stars, but it could be that these are the ingredients for the formation of a new planet. In any case, it seems to say something about the origin of chemicals: the fact that they are in the ice seems to suggest that it is chemical reactions in the solid phase of ice that create those complex molecules.
By the way, astronauts are not allowed to drink alcohol. NASA is too afraid that it will cause problems with the equipment. So that whiskey was really a special occasion, as it should be with expensive whiskey, right?
