{"id":20794,"date":"2020-01-15T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=20794"},"modified":"2020-01-13T16:23:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T21:23:13","slug":"20794","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=20794","title":{"rendered":"ESO: ALMA & ROSETTA find keys to the mysteries of phosphorus, a building block of life"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Astronomers Reveal Interstellar Thread of One of Life\u2019s Building Blocks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This infographic shows the key results from a study that has revealed the interstellar thread of phosphorus, one of life\u2019s building blocks.<\/strong>\u00a0 Thanks to ALMA, astronomers could pinpoint where phosphorus-bearing molecules form in star-forming regions like AFGL 5142. The background of this infographic shows a part of the night sky in the constellation of Auriga, where the star-forming region AFGL 5142 is located. The ALMA image of this object is on the top left of the infographic, and one of the locations where the team found phosphorus-bearing molecules is indicated by a circle. The most common phosphorus-bearing molecule in AFGL 5142 is phosphorus monoxide, represented in orange and red in the diagram on the bottom left. Another molecule found was phosphorus nitride, represented in orange and blue.\u00a0 Using data from the ROSINA instrument onboard ESA\u2019s Rosetta, astronomers also found phosphorus monoxide on comet 67P\/Churyumov\u2013Gerasimenko, shown on the bottom right. This first sighting of phosphorus monoxide on a comet helps astronomers draw a connection between star-forming regions, where the molecule is created, all the way to Earth, where it played a crucial role in starting life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phosphorus, present in our DNA and cell membranes, is an essential element for life as we know it. But how it arrived on the early Earth is something of a mystery. Astronomers have now traced the journey of phosphorus from star-forming regions to comets using the combined powers of ALMA and the European Space Agency\u2019s probe Rosetta. Their research shows, for the first time, where molecules containing phosphorus form, how this element is carried in comets, and how a particular molecule may have played a crucial role in starting life on our planet.<\/p>\n

“Life appeared on Earth about 4 billion years ago, but we still do not know the processes that made it possible,<\/em>“<\/p>\n

says V\u00edctor Rivilla, the lead author of a new study published today in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society<\/em>. The new results from the Atacama Large Millimeter\/Submillimeter Array<\/a> (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, and from the ROSINA instrument on board Rosetta<\/a>, show that phosphorus monoxide is a key piece in the origin-of-life puzzle.<\/p>\n