First measurement of chemical fingerprint of smallest aromatic molecule
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 - 16:30
in Physics & Chemistry
A team of astronomers from Leiden University, The Netherlands, measured the chemical fingerprint of the smallest aromatic molecule. According to astrochemical models this molecule should be highly abundant in the universe, but because the means to identify the molecule were lacking, it was not possible to search for it in space. After a decades long search, its spectrum has finally been measured in laboratory experiments. The molecule is an important intermediate for a range of astrochemical reactions through which molecules that are important to the emergence of life form. The results are published online in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.