Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks Revealed
Phosphorus is essential for life, but how it arrived on Earth is a mystery.
Astronomers have traced the journey of phosphorus from regions where new stars and planetary systems form to comets.
Using ALMA to look into a star-forming region they revealed how and where phosphorus-bearing molecules form.
They also found that the main carrier of phosphorus is the molecule phosphorus monoxide.
The team then turned to comet 67P. Comets are thought to have delivered life-essential molecules to Earth.
Using data from the ROSINA instrument on board ESA’s Rosetta, the team found phosphorus monoxide on a comet for the first time.
The study reveals an interstellar thread of phosphorus where phosphorus monoxide plays the lead role...
...from star-forming regions to comets and eventually planets like Earth where life can begin.
Transcription by ESO; translation by —