Molecules That Could ‘Give Life’ Discovered in a Nebula

The nebula ‘Chmaeleon I’, located a few hundred light years from our Earth, hosted a great discovery today. Minerals vital to a habitable planet have been discovered in the coldest and darkest nebula ever discovered in the universe.

The frozen states of molecules such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur, which are the most basic components that must be in a habitable environment, were found. Among these molecules was methanol, the most basic complex organic molecule.

So what does this discovery point to?

• Chamaeleon I through the eyes of James Webb.

The discovery of molecules more complex than methanol in the nebula proved for the first time the existence of complex molecules in the icy depths of molecular clouds found before stars were born. Of course, this ‘evidence’ is not the only meaning of this discovery.

Will Rocha of Leiden Observatory said that the discovery of complex organic molecules will enable future stellar and planetary systems to occur in the nebula in question to have molecules in advanced chemical state. He also added that the prebiotic molecules on the planets are a result of the formation of stars.

In other words, it has been proven again that the rich and complex molecules that make a planet suitable for life are not exclusive to the Solar System.