Fragrant (natural molecules with fused benzene rings) structural units carrying up to three rings, for example in chemical substances phenanthrene, phenalene, and acenaphthylene, connected by hydrogen-deficient bridges among each other were found to play a crucial role in producing reddish colors. The UH experiments showed the level of molecular intricacy of stellar cosmic rays processing hydrocarbons and provided insight into the role played by ices exposed to radiation in the early production of biological precursor molecules, a particle that gets involved in a chain reaction that produces another particle.
” This research study is a critical very first action to systematically unwind the carriers of the molecular systems responsible for hydrocarbon-rich surface areas of Kuiper Belt items,” Kaiser said. “Since astronomical detections also identified, e.g., methanol, water, and ammonia, on the surfaces of Kuiper Belt objects, further experiments on the cosmic ray processing of these ices ideally expose the nature of the real color variety of Kuiper Belt things on the molecular level.”
Recommendation: “Processing of methane and acetylene ices by stellar cosmic rays and ramifications to the color variety of Kuiper Belt objects” by Chaojiang Zhang, Cheng Zhu, Andrew M. Turner, Ivan O. Antonov, Adrien D. Garcia, Cornelia Meinert, Leslie A. Young, David C. Jewitt and Ralf I. Kaiser, 31 May 2023, Science Advances.DOI: 10.1126/ sciadv.adg6936.
Aromatic structures linked through unsaturated hydrocarbon chains drive the color variety of hydrocarbon rich surfaces of Kuiper Belt items. Credit: University of Hawaii at Mānoa
The Kuiper Belt, a large disk brimming with icy bodies consisting of Pluto and located just beyond Neptunes orbit in our planetary system, shows an appealing color combination ranging from stark white to deep reddish colors on its things. This distinctive color range, unique amongst all solar system populations, has long remained a mystery. The prevailing theory among scientists has been that the diverse colors most likely emerge from the sustaining radiation exposure of organic products by stellar cosmic rays.
A brand-new study led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoas Department of Chemistry scientists has actually replicated the environment in the Kuiper Belt to find what is causing the range of colors in hydrocarbon-rich surface areas of Kuiper Belt items, offering a solution to an enduring issue in astrophysics. The study was recently published in the journal Science Advances.
The research study group led by Professor Ralf I. Kaiser performed the advanced research at UH Mānoa. They utilized ultrahigh vacuum irradiation experiments and conducted thorough analyses to examine the color advancement and their source on the molecular level as galactic cosmic rays processed hydrocarbons, such as methane and acetylene, under Kuiper Belt-like conditions.