Posted on 06/28/2019 5:26:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of electrically-charged molecules in space shaped like soccer balls, shedding light on the mysterious contents of the interstellar medium (ISM) - the gas and dust that fills interstellar space.
The molecules … are a form of carbon called "Buckminsterfullerene," also known as "Buckyballs," which consists of 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in a hollow sphere. C60 has been found in some rare cases on Earth in rocks and minerals, and can also turn up in high-temperature combustion soot.
C60 has been seen in space before. However, this is the first time an electrically charged (ionized) version has been confirmed to be present in the diffuse ISM. The C60 gets ionized when ultraviolet light from stars tears off an electron from the molecule, giving the C60 a positive charge (C60+).
Most of the ISM is hydrogen and helium, but it's spiked with many compounds that haven't been identified. Since interstellar space is so remote, scientists study how it affects the light from distant stars to identify its contents. As starlight passes through space, elements and compounds in the ISM absorb and block certain colors (wavelengths) of the light. When scientists analyze starlight by separating it into its component colors (spectrum), the colors that have been absorbed appear dim or are absent. Each element or compound has a unique absorption pattern that acts as a fingerprint allowing it to be identified. However, some absorption patterns from the ISM cover a broader range of colors, which appear different from any known atom or molecule on Earth. These absorption patterns are called Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs). Their identity has remained a mystery ever since they were discovered by Mary Lea Heger, who published observations of the first two DIBs in 1922.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
I find the following excerpt of information more interesting than the actual discovery. We’ve known about DIBs since 1922, when they were discovered by a chick.
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Each element or compound has a unique absorption pattern that acts as a fingerprint allowing it to be identified. However, some absorption patterns from the ISM cover a broader range of colors, which appear different from any known atom or molecule on Earth. These absorption patterns are called Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIBs). Their identity has remained a mystery ever since they were discovered by Mary Lea Heger, who published observations of the first two DIBs in 1922.
A DIB can be assigned by finding a precise match with the absorption fingerprint of a substance in the laboratory. However, there are millions of different molecular structures to try, so it would take many lifetimes to test them all.
“Today, more than 400 DIBs are known, but (apart from the few newly attributed to C60+), none has been conclusively identified,” said Cordiner. “Together, the appearance of the DIBs indicate the presence of a large amount of carbon-rich molecules in space, some of which may eventually participate in the chemistry that gives rise to life. However, the composition and characteristics of this material will remain unknown until the remaining DIBs are assigned.”
Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of electrically-charged molecules in space shaped like soccer balls, shedding light on the mysterious contents of the interstellar medium (ISM) - the gas and dust that fills interstellar space.
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For the past several years we should have launched new and improved Hubble class space telescopes rather than throwing a fortune at the severely delayed James Webb space telescope.
A new telescope launched on an expendable rocket would have cost less than a Space Shuttle servicing mission.
They're not shaped like baseballs or basketballs?
Could be wrong, but I think its means that they are not exactly round.
Does this mean that if you win the World Cup, you get invited to the Solar System Cup next?
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Fascinating.
C60 is also known to double the lifetimes of lab test animals.
Some sides are pentagons and some are hexagons
Free carbon floating around in the nothingness?
Who’d a thunk it !!
And God said
And there was Carbon
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!
Any of them named Wilson?
They're not shaped like baseballs or basketballs?shaped like soccer balls
they are not exactly round. - BenLurkinHangnJudge posted a picture of the buckyball form of C60 in Reply #4. If you examine it, you will notice that although most of the polygons which make of the figure are hexagons, there are a smaller number - not clear just how many - of pentagons in the makeup of the figure.IMHO that is precisely the way a soccer ball is formed - by stitching hexagons and pentagons of leather together. Neither basketballs nor baseballs are made that way.
Dang! Does this mean that space, also, is overrun by millions of illegal aliens?
And all the world is football-shaped
It’s just for me to kick in Space
And I can see hear smell touch taste
And I’ve got 1 2 3 4 5.......senses working overtime
Thanks BenLurkin.
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