Tag Archive for 'PAH'

Hubble and Webb/ALMA images of the Butterfly Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Hubble / ALMA / Matsuura et al., doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf1194.

Webb Spots Torus of Cosmic Dust and Organics in Butterfly Nebula

Aug 29, 2025 by News Staff

With the help of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have made a big leap forward in the understanding of how the raw material of...

This Webb/MIRI image shows the central part of the starburst galaxy Messier 82. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Bolatto.

Webb Zooms In on Central Region of Messier 82

Jul 1, 2025 by News Staff

Using the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have captured a stunning infrared image of central...

Cyanocoronene, composed of seven interconnected benzene rings and a cyano group, was found in the cold, dark molecular cloud TMC-1, a region known for its rich chemistry and as a cradle for new stars. Image credit: NSF / AUI / NSF / NRAO / P.Vosteen.

Cyanocoronene: Astronomers Detect Seven-Ring Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon in TMC-1

Jun 16, 2025 by News Staff

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are expected to be the most abundant class of organic molecules in space, yet their their lifecycle in the interstellar...

A view of the outside of the OSIRIS-REx sample collector. Sample material from asteroid Bennu can be seen on the middle right. Image credit: NASA / Erika Blumenfeld / Joseph Aebersold.

Scientists Find Amino Acids, Salts and Other Compounds in Samples from Asteroid Bennu

Jan 29, 2025 by News Staff

Asteroid Bennu is thought to be made of rubble fragments from a 4.5-billion-year-old parent body, containing materials that originated beyond Saturn, which...

This Webb/MIRI/NIRCam image shows the central area of the irregular galaxy NGC 4449. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Adamo, Stockholm University / FEAST JWST Team.

Webb Zooms In on Irregular Galaxy NGC 4449

May 29, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured amazing new photos of NGC 4449, which is found in the constellation of Canes...

Messier 82 was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 2006, which showed the galaxy’s edge-on spiral disk, shredded clouds, and hot hydrogen gas. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope observed the core of Messier 82, capturing in unprecedented detail the structure of the galactic wind and characterizing individual stars and star clusters. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Hubble / Webb / STScI / A. Bolatto, UMD.

Webb Observes Hidden Depths of Messier 82

Apr 3, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured a new image of the central starburst region of Messier 82 (M82, NGC 3034 or...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument of star-forming region NGC 604 shows how stellar winds from bright, hot young stars carve out cavities in surrounding gas and dust. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Captures Spectacular Images of NGC 604

Mar 11, 2024 by News Staff

NGC 604 is similar to familiar starbirth regions in our Milky Way Galaxy, such as the Orion Nebula, but it is much larger in extent and contains many more...

This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on June 26, 2018, from a distance of 13.7 miles (22 km). Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / Aizu University / AIST.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Asteroids Predate Our Solar System, New Study Shows

Dec 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomical observations show that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant and widespread in the interstellar medium. PAH molecules consist...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument shows the central portion of the star cluster IC 348. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / K. Luhman, Penn State University / C. Alves de Oliveira, ESA.

Webb Finds Small Free-Floating Brown Dwarf in Star-Forming Cluster IC 348

Dec 13, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered brown dwarf has an estimated mass of 3-4 Jupiter masses, making it a strong contender for the least massive free-floating brown dwarf...

This Webb image of NGC 346 traces emission from cool gas and dust. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / N. Habel, JPL / P. Kavanagh, Maynooth University.

Webb Captures Mid-Infrared Image of NGC 346

Oct 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image taken with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows streamers of gas and dust studded with...

In this false-color Webb image, the foreground galaxy is shown in blue, while the SPT0418-47 galaxy is red; the organic molecules are highlighted in orange. Image credit: J. Spilker / S. Doyle / NASA / ESA / CSA.

Webb Finds Complex Organic Molecules in Early Universe

Jun 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in SPT-S J041839-4751.9 (SPT0418-47 for short),...

This Webb image shows NGC 7496, a barred spiral galaxy some 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Grus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / Judy Schmidt.

Webb Focuses on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Nearby Galaxies

Feb 16, 2023 by News Staff

Webb observations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission provide some of the deepest and highest resolution views of the cold interstellar medium...

This image, taken with Webb’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7469. Image credit: Bohn et al., arXiv: 2209.04466.

Webb Detects Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Nuclear Regions of Seyfert Galaxies

Oct 11, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers have analyzed publicly available data from the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope for three Seyfert...

PAH molecules overlaid on the Taurus Molecular Cloud, a large blue-white cloud made of gas and dust with large and small stars of varying luminosities interspersed throughout. Aromatic molecule structures shown in order from left to right: 1-cyanonaphthalene, 1-cyano-cyclopentadiene, HC11N, 2-cyanonaphthalene, vinylcyanoacetylene, 2-cyano-cyclopentadiene, benzonitrile, E-cyanovinylacetylene, HC4NC, propargylcyanide. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Astronomers Detect Two New Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Interstellar Medium

Mar 22, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, astronomers have identified emission from two isomers of a small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Neanderthals Were as Good at Tolerating Smoke-Related Toxins as Early Modern Humans: Study

Nov 30, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genetic study conducted by researchers from Leiden University and Wageningen University thoroughly debunks previous claims that a genetic mutation...

The Chicxulub asteroid impact. Image credit: Victor Leshyk.

Dust and Soot Contributed to End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction

Oct 9, 2020 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the US, the UK and Australia has analyzed burn markers from the boundary of the impact site of the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatán...

Neanderthals Knew How to Start Fire, New Research Shows

Oct 28, 2019 by News Staff

Middle Paleolithic hominins such as Neanderthals not only controlled fire, but also mastered the ability to generate it, according to new research led...

The moons of our Solar System are brimming with unusual landscapes. However, sometimes they look a little more familiar, as in this new radar image from the Cassini orbiter. The image shows dark streaks carved into dunes reminiscent of those we might find on a beach on Earth, or raked with flowing lines in a Japanese Zen garden — but this scene is actually taking place on Saturn’s moon Titan. While our sand is composed of silicates, the ‘sand’ of these alien dunes is formed from grains of organic materials about the same size as particles of our beach sand. The small size and smoothness of these grains means that the flowing lines carved into the dunes show up as dark to the human eye. While previous images have spotted these eerily familiar patterns on Titan's dunes, this new image (colorized) shows them in greater detail. The image was obtained by Cassini's radar mapper on July 10, 2013. The vertical seam near the center is an artifact of radar image data processing. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Sci-News.com.

Researchers Unravel Origin and Chemical Composition of Titan’s Mysterious Dunes

Oct 22, 2019 by News Staff

Vast longitudinal dunes up to 330 feet (100 m) in height in the equatorial deserts of Saturn’s moon Titan are the Solar System’s most monumental surface...

Agricultural fires in modern-day Pakistan and India. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/ Lynn Jenner / Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Wildfires Played Crucial Role in Miocene Expansion of Grasslands

Nov 28, 2018 by News Staff

New research from Penn State and Smithsonian Institute links a large rise in wildfires nearly 10 million years ago (Miocene epoch) with a major shift in...

Perera et al find babies exposed in the womb to high levels of air pollution had shortened telomeres. Image credit: Chris LeBoutillier.

Study: High Levels of Air Pollution May Shorten Telomeres in Newborns

Jan 25, 2018 by News Staff

A new study, conducted before and after the 2004 closure of a coal-burning power plant in China, found children born before the closure had shorter telomeres...