The search for molecular oxygen among cosmic oxygen atoms
Monday, July 27, 2015 - 07:00
in Physics & Chemistry
Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe (after hydrogen and helium) and of course it is important: all known life forms require liquid water and its oxygen content. For over thirty years, astronomers have been searching for molecular oxygen, O2, as part of an accounting of cosmic oxygen atoms. Despite early predictions that O2 should be abundant in the molecular clouds that form new stars and planetary systems, it is virtually absent.