IRFEL Selective Irradiation of Amorphous Solid Water: from Dangling to Bulk Modes

Article Astronomy & Astrophysics

Water in star-forming regions: physics and chemistry from clouds to disks as probed by Herschel spectroscopy

E. F. van Dishoeck et al.

Summary: The WISH project aims to observe and quantify the distribution of water in various star-forming environments and sheds light on the origins and distribution of water in space. The study reveals that most of the far-infrared water emission originates from warm outflowing and shocked gas, which is heated by kinetic energy dissipation. Water acts as a significant coolant in the earliest stages of protostellar development, with universally low warm gas water abundances observed.

ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Astronomy & Astrophysics

A non-energetic mechanism for glycine formation in the interstellar medium

S. Ioppolo et al.

Summary: The laboratory detection of glycine formed in the solid phase without the need for energetic processing suggests that amino acids may form at the very earliest stages of star formation. The presence of glycine and its precursor on a comet provides strong evidence for a cosmic origin of amino acids on Earth. The process of amino acid formation during star formation remains debated, but experiments suggest that glycine could form in interstellar water-rich ices without energetic irradiation, enriching planet-forming material with prebiotic chemistry.

NATURE ASTRONOMY (2021)

Add to Collection

Article Chemistry, Physical