ALMA and Rosetta detect Freon-40 in Space
Astronomers found the molecule Freon-40, which is made by biological processes on Earth, in places which predate life:
In gas around an infant star system 400 light-years away using ALMA...
...and around a comet in the Solar System using ROSINA on ESA's Rosetta probe.
Some non-biological process must create this molecule before planets form...
...meaning that Freon-40 probably isn't the good biomarker that astronomers thought.
The discovery highlights an important link between young stars away and comets close to home...
...and may shed light on how the building blocks for life could have been assembled in space and brought to Earth.
Transcribed by ESO, translated by —