The researchers simulated the processes occurring around a dying star. The experiment showed that under
Back in the mid-80s of the last centuryResearchers have discovered complex carbon molecules in interstellar space. The most famous of them, buckyballs, are polyhedral clusters consisting of 60 carbon atoms.
As scientists explain, the education of the wealthycarbon molecules in the presence of hydrogen surrounding dying stars is practically impossible due to thermodynamic laws. Therefore, the discovery of buckyballs has baffled researchers.
Schematic representation of the experiment. The carbide loses silicon atoms (green), leaving individual carbon atoms (black balls). Source: Jacob Bernal/University of Arizona
In 2019, astrophysicists showed that underexposure to high temperatures, shock waves and high-energy particles, silicon carbide dust is converted into pure carbon. Buckyballs can form as a result of this process. In the new paper, accepted for publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, the scientists suggest that dying stars must also produce more complex carbon compounds.
To confirm this hypothesis, scientists heatedsamples of silicon carbide to temperatures typical of dying or dead stars and photographed them. At a temperature of about 1050 °C, small hemispherical structures about one nm in size began to form on the surface of the grains. Within a few minutes of continuous heating, the spherical buds began to grow into rod-shaped structures.
The resulting nanotubes had a length and width of three to four nm. And the largest of the samples consisted of more than four layers of graphitic carbon. They are much larger than buckyballs.
Our experiments show that such materialscould have formed in interstellar space. If they survived the journey to our local part of the galaxy, where our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago, then they could be preserved inside the remaining material.
Thomas Zegi, professor at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona and co-author of the paper
Researchers hope to find confirmation of theirhypotheses in materials from the asteroid Bennu. This carbonaceous near-Earth object was explored in October 2020 by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission. The samples are expected to be delivered to Earth in 2023.
Cover image: The Spirograph Nebula, formed after the death of a star. Source: NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
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