Yekaterinburg Scientists Find Laughing Gas in Space

Astronomers from Ural Federal University have discovered «laughing gas» in interstellar ices. This molecule is the ninth found in ices. Scientists note that this is a breakthrough discovery.

«We detected nitrous oxide in the ices toward 16 out of 50 protostars we analyzed. The N₂O content in these protostars ranges from 0.2% to 2.1% relative to ice composed of CO molecules. The detection of nitrous oxide in more than a dozen protostars means that this molecule is widely distributed in interstellar ices, and our work is the first confident detection of icy N₂O,» said research assistant Varvara Karteeva from the astrochemical research laboratory at Ural Federal University.

The university explained that in the gas of interstellar clouds, from which stars and planets form, more than 300 molecules are known. But in the icy mantle, which forms at a temperature of −263 degrees Celsius (−441°F), only eight molecules have been identified worldwide. The N₂O molecule discovered by Ural Federal University scientists is the ninth. In addition, the Ural Federal University team also announced the preliminary detection of another molecule — isocyanic acid (HNCO).

According to scientists, detecting molecules in ices is much more difficult than in gas. In the solid phase, molecules are visible only in the infrared range — when a star is nearby that helps «illuminate» the necessary area.

«We used spectra of analogs of interstellar ices grown on our laboratory setup ISEAge to interpret the results obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope last year. With the help of laboratory spectra, we were able to analyze observations of interstellar clouds and confidently detect N₂O in the ices,» explained laboratory head Anton Vasyunin.

The finding is extremely important. The nitrous oxide molecule reacts more easily at low temperatures than, for example, the probable main carrier of nitrogen in icy mantles — molecular nitrogen (N₂), and can participate in the chemistry of more complex nitrogen-containing molecules, including amino acids, which are necessary for building proteins, the basis for living organisms.

«It is believed that reactions in the gas phase of interstellar clouds likely do not lead to the formation of complex organic molecules. With ice, the situation is different: the ice surface is kind of catalytic. Surface reactions can be more effective in forming a number of chemical compounds that form poorly or not at all in gas. Therefore, studying the chemistry in ices and the composition of these ices is, on one hand, more difficult, and on the other — more interesting, because there is slightly different chemistry leading to the formation of a different set of molecules.

«It is also likely that on planetary surfaces, material from interstellar ice is more likely to arrive than from rarefied interplanetary gas. Roughly speaking, an icy comet nucleus can fall and bring a significant amount of organic material to a young planet. That is, the delivery of chemical molecules to a planet»s surface in solid state is more probable and efficient than in gaseous state,« added Vasyunin.

Earlier we reported that an asteroid the size of a 7-story building is flying toward Earth. Scientists explained whether there is a chance of its collision with our planet.

And today, January 22, residents of Yekaterinburg will be able to see a planetary alignment.