Tag Archive for 'Methyl cation'

These images of Titan, taken by Webb on July 11, 2023 (top row), and the Keck II telescope on July 14, 2023 (bottom row), show methane clouds (white arrows) appearing at different altitudes in Titan’s northern hemisphere. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Keck Observatory.

Weather Report from Saturn’s Moon Titan: Partly Cloudy with Occasional Methane Showers

May 14, 2025 by NASA

Using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the Keck II telescope, astronomers found evidence of cloud convection in the northern hemisphere...

This image taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera shows a part of the Orion Nebula known as the Orion Bar. It is a region where energetic ultraviolet light from the Trapezium Cluster -- located off the upper-left corner -- interacts with dense molecular clouds. The energy of the stellar radiation is slowly eroding the Orion Bar, and this has a profound effect on the molecules and chemistry in the protoplanetary disks that have formed around newborn stars here. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / M. Zamani / PDRs4All ERS Team.

Webb Detects Crucial Carbon Molecule in Protoplanetary Disk

Jun 26, 2023 by News Staff

The vital role of a carbon molecule called methyl cation (CH3+) in interstellar carbon chemistry was predicted in the 1970s, but the unique capabilities...