[Announcement] - [Spectrum] - [Pod Cast] - [Full Details]

Organic Molecules Detected in the Early Universe

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found that the ingredients for life were found in space, way back when the universe was young.

Using Spitzer, scientists have detected organic molecules in galaxies that existed when the universe was only 4 billion years old, about a quarter of its current age (about 14 billion years). The molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which consist of of carbon and hydrogen are considered to be building blocks of life.

These complex molecules are very common on Earth. They form any time carbon-based materials are not burned completely. They can be found in sooty exhaust from cars and airplanes, and in charcoal broiled hamburgers and burnt toast.

The molecules, pervasive in galaxies like our own Milky Way, play a significant role in star and planet formation. Spitzer is the first telescope to see these molecules so far back in time.

"This is 10 billion years further back in time than we've seen them before," said Dr. Lin Yan of the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. Yan is lead author of a study to be published in the August 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal. Previous missions -- the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Infrared Space Observatory -- detected these types of galaxies and molecules much closer to our own Milky Way galaxy. Spitzer's sensitivity is 100 times greater than these previous infrared telescope missions, enabling direct detection of organics so far away.

Since Earth is approximately four-and-a-half billion years old, these organic materials existed in the universe well before our planet and solar system were formed and may have even been the seeds of our solar system. Spitzer found the organic compounds in galaxies where intense star formation had taken place over a short period of time. These "flash in the pan" starburst galaxies are nearly invisible in optical images because they are very far away and contain large quantities of light-absorbing dust. But the same dust glows brightly in infrared light and is easily spotted by Spitzer.

Other co-authors include Ranga-Ram Chary, Lee Armus, Harry Tepliz, David Frayer, Dario Fadda, Jason Surace, and Philip Choi, all of the Spitzer Science Center.

For information on the Spitzer Space Telescope visit: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/.

For more information on NASA missions and programs visit: www.nasa.gov.