NASA’s Webb telescope discovers ingredients for life around young stars

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope found swirling clouds of ice surrounding young stars, holding clues to the origins of life, the US space agency announced Wednesday.

The Webb telescope, a beacon of exploration in the cosmic darkness, has unveiled a groundbreaking revelation amidst the swirling gases and icy depths surrounding two nascent stars.

NASA said a team of international astronomers, led by Will Rocha of Leiden University in the Netherlands, detected a cosmic cocktail of "complex organic molecules" (COMs) "surrounding the young protostars known as IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385," with the use of Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument.

"This finding contributes to one of the long-standing questions in astrochemistry," said Rocha, according to a statement on NASA's website.

The icy patches hold complex molecules "like ethanol (alcohol)'' and "likely acetic acid (an ingredient in vinegar)," the building blocks for life.

"This work builds on previous Webb detections of diverse ices in a cold, dark molecular cloud," said NASA.

Within the celestial laboratory, "simpler molecules" dance alongside their more complex counterparts -- "formic acid, methane, formaldehyde, and sulfur dioxide" all weaving a narrative of cosmic evolution.

"Research suggests that sulfur-containing compounds like sulfur dioxide played an important role in driving metabolic reactions on the primitive Earth," said NASA.

The discovery claims that the ingredients might have been present in our solar system's infancy, potentially delivered by comets and asteroids.

Each molecule is a clue to the past, a hint of the future.

Of particular intrigue is IRAS 2A -- a "low-mass protostar" resembling the "early stages of our own solar system."

Guided by the memory of Harold Linnartz, chair of laboratory astrophysics at the Leiden Observer at Leiden University, who died in December, the research seeks to unravel the mysteries of creation with each observation from the Webb telescope, a sentinel of discovery in the cosmos.

Scientists are excited to learn more about the origins of life and the potential for habitable planets.

"We look forward to following this astrochemical trail step-by-step with more Webb data in the coming years," said Ewine van Dishoeck of Leiden University, one of the coordinators of the science program, according to NASA.

The team made observations for the JOYS+ (James Webb Observations of Young ProtoStars) program, dedicating the results to Linnartz.

"This research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics," NASA added.

The James Webb Space Telescope, led by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) partners, is a leading international program focused on solving mysteries in the solar system and beyond.