Scientists have discovered an amino acid that is necessary for life in interstellar space
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Scientists have discovered evidence of the amino acid tryptophan in interstellar material from the IC348 star system using data from the Spitzer Space Observatory.
This discovery suggests that the amino acids that make up proteins are found in regions where stars and planets develop, indicating the potential for life in exoplanetary systems.
Dr. Susana Iglesias-Groth from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) used data from the Spitzer space observatory to discover traces of the amino acid tryptophan in the interstellar matter of a planet-forming region near the stars.
The results of the research were recently published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Large amounts of tryptophan have been detected in the Perseus molecular complex, particularly in the IC348 star system, a star-forming region located 1,000 light-years from Earth – relatively close in astronomical terms. This area is normally invisible to the naked eye, but glows brightly when viewed in infrared light.
Tryptophan is one of the 20 amino acids essential for the formation of key proteins for life on Earth and produces one of the richest patterns of spectral lines in the infrared. It was therefore an obvious candidate to be explored using the extensive spectroscopic database of the Spitzer satellite, a space-based infrared telescope.
The analysis of the infrared light emitted from the region revealed 20 emission lines of the molecule tryptophan. The temperature of the tryptophan is about 280 Kelvin, or 7 degrees Celsius. Iglesias-Groth has previously found water and hydrogen at the same temperatures in IC348.
The study suggests that tryptophan-related emission lines can also occur in other star-forming regions and that they are common in the gas and dust from which stars and planets form amino acids are commonly found in meteorites and were present when our solar system was formed.
This new work may suggest that these protein-making factors, essential for the evolution of life, occur naturally in the regions where stars and planetary systems form and could contribute to the early chemistry of planetary systems around other stars.
Dr. Iglesias-Groth explains: “Evidence for the presence of tryptophan in the Perseus molecular complex should encourage further efforts to identify other amino acids in this and other star-forming regions.”“It is a very interesting possibility that the building blocks of proteins are widespread in the gas from which stars and planets form: this could be crucial for the development of life in exoplanetary systems.” Reference: “A search for tryptophan in the gas of star cluster IC 348 of the Perseus molecular cloud,” Susana Iglesias-Groth, May 22, 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
