Cosmochemistry in Action

It’s pretty common knowledge in astronomy these days that planets grow from seeds hidden in clouds of gas and dust around other stars. Thats how our solar system got started a few billion years ago, and studying how it happens elsewhere helps us understand the birth of our own planet. But, the big question is always, “What about life?”

The Spitzer Space Telescope has been peering into clouds of gas and dust enshrouding nearby stars, and discovering the seeds of life. What are those seeds? Organic molecules (in the form of gases) and water vapor, to name a couple.

Two scientists who use SST, John Carr of the Naval Research Laboratory, and Joan Najita of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (in Tucson, Arizona), used Spitzer’s infrared spectrograph to measure and analyze the chemical elements in a protoplanetary disk around a young star called AA Tauri. It’s less than a million years old and is pretty typical of young stars that have the cosmochemical seeds of life scattered around them in dense, dusty disks.

Other scientists are using Spitzer to look for water molecules in these same types of disks. And, they’re finding them.

This is important work, folks. Water and organics are two of the big three things you need to form life. But, before we get carried away and start thinking of little green beings from AA Tauri, keep in mind that the planets have to form first. Then the life will come (if all the conditions are good for it). It’s a big deal right now to find these materials in places other than our own solar system. It means the conditions for planets like Earth to form are out there. And, the existence of organics and water tell us that some billions of years from now, life might exist on planets around these stars. Visit the Spitzer news announcements for more background on this new set of findings.