#ISM (Interstellar Medium)

[xtruss]

Scientists Find Origin-of-Life Molecule in Space for First Time

— By Jess Thomson | August 8, 2023

NASA image of the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera. A molecular cloud in interstellar space has been found to contain carbonic acid for the first time. NASA, ESA, CSA, AND STSCI

molecule common to Earth and usually associated with life has been detected in the depths of space by scientists.

Carbonic acid (HOCOOH), which you may know as the chemical that makes your soda fizzy, was discovered lurking near the center of our galaxy in a galactic center molecular cloud named G+0.693-0.027, a study published in The Astrophysical Journal revealed.

This marks the third time that carboxylic acids—this class of chemicals, often thought to be some of the building blocks of life—have been detected in space, after acetic acid and formic, and the first time that an interstellar molecule has been found to contain three or more oxygen atoms.

"Our observations have allowed us to know that carbonic acid, which until now had remained invisible to our eyes, is relatively abundant in space, which makes it an essential piece to understand the interstellar chemistry of carbon and oxygen, two of the fundamental chemical elements in any prebiotic process," Víctor M. Rivilla, a researcher at the Spanish Center for Astrobiology and co-author of the study, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).

"This result confirms that the path we have chosen is the right one to search for, and detect more molecules that we suspect were key to the appearance of life on our planet," he concluded.

Carboxylic acids are a type of organic compound characterized by a carbon (C) atom doubly bonded to an oxygen (O) atom and singly bonded to a hydroxyl group (―OH). Carbonic acid in particular is formed when CO2 is dissolved in water, meaning that it is present in increased concentrations in our seas due to CO2 in the atmosphere.

Many theories as to how life on Earth evolved suggest that primitive life may have emerged from a primordial soup of chemicals when our planet was very young. Some have suggested that these chemicals, including carboxylic acids, may have arrived on Earth from space, traveling via comets and meteorites to the forming planet.

Carbonic acid has been previously detected on other astronomical bodies, including the icy moons of Jupiter, in some meteorites and comets, and even on Mars and Mercury, but until now, has not been seen in interstellar space.

The authors explained that the discovery of these more complex molecules in the interstellar medium may reveal clues about the origins of our planet and the life upon it.

"The presence of prebiotic COMs within extraterrestrial material thus firmly suggests the existence of carboxylic acids of increasing complexity in the ISM (interstellar medium), including amino acid–related species. Within this context, considerable efforts have been devoted to hunting for other acids, such as propenoic or acrylic acid, propanoic acid, cyanoacetic acid, glycolic acid, hydantoic acid, and glycine, whose identification in the [interstellar medium] remains elusive."

[apod]

2024 December 22

The Local Fluff Illustration Credit: NASA, SVS, Adler, U. Chicago, Wesleyan

Explanation: The stars are not alone. In the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, about 10 percent of visible matter is in the form of gas called the interstellar medium (ISM). The ISM is not uniform and shows patchiness even near our Sun. It can be quite difficult to detect the local ISM because it is so tenuous and emits so little light. This mostly hydrogen gas, however, absorbs some very specific colors that can be detected in the light of the nearest stars. A working map of the local ISM within 20 light-years, based on ongoing observations and particle detections from the Earth-orbiting Interstellar Boundary Exporer satellite (IBEX), is shown here. These observations indicate that our Sun is moving through a Local Interstellar Cloud as this cloud flows outwards from the Scorpius-Centaurus Association star forming region. Our Sun may exit the Local Cloud, also called the Local Fluff, during the next 10,000 years. Much remains unknown about the local ISM, including details of its distribution, its origin, and how it affects the Sun and the Earth. Unexpectedly, IBEX spacecraft measurements indicate that the direction from which neutral interstellar particles flow through our Solar System is changing.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241222.html

[spacenutspod]

Astronomers have known for some time that nearby supernovae have had a profound effect on Earth’s evolution. For starters, Earth’s deposits of gold, platinum, and other heavy metals are believed to have been distributed to Earth by ancient supernovae. The blasts of gamma rays released in the process can also significantly affect life, depleting nitrogen and oxygen in the upper atmosphere, depleting the ozone layer, and causing harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation to reach the surface. Given the number of near-Earth supernovae that have occurred since Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, these events likely affected the evolution of life. In a new paper by a team of astronomers from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), a nearby supernova may have influenced the evolution of life on Earth. According to their findings, Earth was pummeled by radiation from a nearby supernova about 2.5 million years ago. This burst of radiation was powerful enough to break apart the DNA of living creatures in Lake Tanganyika, the deepest body of water in Africa. This event, they argue, could be linked to an explosion in the number of viruses that occurred in the region. The study was led by Caitlyn Nojiri, a recent graduate of the USCS Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. She was joined by Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, a USCS Professor of astronomy and astrophysics, and Noémie Globus, a postdoctoral fellow at USCS and a member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University and the Astrophysical Big Bang Laboratory. The paper that describes their findings appeared on January 15th in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. The image of Lake Tanganyika was acquired in June 1985. Credit: NASA For their study, the team examined samples of iron-60 retrieved from the seafloor of Lake Tanganyika, the 645 km-long (400 mi) lake in Africa’s Great Rift Valley that borders Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This radioactive isotope of iron is produced by supernovae and is extremely rare on Earth. They obtained age estimates based on how much the samples had already broken down into nonradioactive forms. This revealed two separate ages for the samples, some 2.5 million years old and the others 6.5 million years old. The next step was to trace the origin of the iron isotopes, which they did by backtracking the Sun’s motions around the center of the Milky Way. Roughly 6.5 million years ago, our Solar System passed through the Local Bubble, a region of lower density in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way. As the Solar System entered the Bubble’s stardust-rich exterior, Earth was seeded with the older traces of iron-60. Between 2 and 3 million years ago, a neighboring star went supernova, seeding Earth with the younger traces of iron-60. To confirm this theory, Nojiri and her colleagues conducted a simulation of a near-Earth supernova, which indicated that it would have bombarded Earth with cosmic rays for 100,000 years after the blast. This model was consistent with a previously recorded spike in radiation that hit Earth around that time. Given the intensity of the radiation, this raised the possibility that it was enough to snap strands of DNA in half. In the meantime, the authors came upon a study of virus diversity in one of Africa’s Rift Valley lakes and saw a possible connection. Said Nojiri in a UCSC news release: “It’s really cool to find ways in which these super distant things could impact our lives or the planet’s habitability. The iron-60 is a way to trace back when the supernovae were occurring. From two to three million years ago, we think that a supernova happened nearby. We saw from other papers that radiation can damage DNA. That could be an accelerant for evolutionary changes or mutations in cells. We can’t say that they are connected, but they have a similar timeframe. We thought it was interesting that there was an increased diversification in the viruses.” Lead author Caitlyn Nojiri is now applying for graduate school and hopes to get a Ph.D. in astrophysics. Credit: UCSC Shortly after their paper was published, Nojiri became the first UCSC undergraduate to be invited to give a seminar at the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP) at Ohio State. Nojiri did not initially set out to be an astronomer but eventually arrived at UCSC, where Prof. Ramirez-Ruiz encouraged her to apply for the University of California Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees (UC LEADS) program. This program is designed to identify undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in STEM. She also participated in the Lamat program (“star” in Mayan), which was founded by Ramirez-Ruiz to teach students with great aptitude and nontraditional backgrounds how to conduct research in astronomy. Because of her experience with these programs, Nojiri has decided to apply for graduate school and become an astrophysicist. “People from different walks of life bring different perspectives to science and can solve problems in very different ways,” said Ramirez-Ruiz. “This is an example of the beauty of having different perspectives in physics and the importance of having those voices.” Further Reading: UC Santa Cruz, The Astrophysical Journal The post New Study Proposes that Cosmic Radiation Altered Virus Evolution in Africa appeared first on Universe Today.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Team unlocks new insights on pulsar signals

Results showed that in almost all cases, measured bandwidths were higher than predictions by widely used models of the galaxy, highlighting a need for updates to current ISM density models.

Dr. Sofia Sheikh from the SETI Institute led a study that sheds new light on how pulsar signals—the spinning remnants of massive stars—distort as they travel through space. This study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, was performed by a multi-year cohort of undergraduate researchers in the Penn State branch of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory student club. Maura McLaughlin, Chair, Eberly Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, created the Pulsar Search Collaboratory to engage high schoolers and undergraduates in pulsar science, and she helped facilitate access to the data used in this study. Using archival data from the Arecibo Observatory, the student team found patterns that show how pulsar signals change as they move through the interstellar medium (ISM), the gas and dust that fills the space between stars. The team measured scintillation bandwidths for 23 pulsars, including new data for six pulsars not previously studied. The results showed that in almost all cases, measured bandwidths were higher than predictions by widely used models of the galaxy, highlighting a need for updates to current ISM density models.

“This work demonstrates the value of large, archived datasets,” said Dr. Sofia Sheikh, SETI Institute researcher and lead author. “Even years after the Arecibo Observatory's collapse, its data continues to unlock critical information that can advance our understanding of the galaxy and enhance our ability to study phenomena like gravitational waves.”

When radio light from a pulsar travels through the ISM, it gets distorted in a process known as "diffractive interstellar scintillation” (DISS). The same physics that makes light refract into patterns on the bottom of a swimming pool or causes stars to twinkle in the night sky also causes DISS. Instead of water in a pool or air in the atmosphere, DISS occurs when clouds of charged particles in space cause a pulsar's light to "twinkle" across time and frequency.

Collaborations such as the NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center use pulsars to study the gravitational wave background, which can help researchers understand the early Universe and the prevalence of gravitational-wave sources such as supermassive black-hole binaries. The pulsar timing measurements must be extremely precise to measure the gravitational wave background correctly. The results from this study will help better model the distortions caused by DISS, which will increase the precision of the pulsar timing measurements of projects like NANOGrav.

The study found that models incorporating galactic structures, such as spiral arms, tend to better fit the DISS data despite the challenge of accurately modeling the Milky Way’s structure. Moreover, the study showed that the models most accurately predicted the bandwidths of pulsars that were used in their development while predictions of newly discovered pulsars were worse. This suggests limitations that reinforce the need for continual updates to galactic structure models."

This pilot study, part of the AO327 survey from Arecibo, serves as a foundation for future research on pulsar scintillation and gravitational waves. By expanding the pilot study to more recently discovered pulsars in the AO327 dataset in the future, the team hopes to further improve ISM density models for collaborations that observe pulsar timing arrays like NANOGrav.

This research involves the collaboration between authors at the SETI Institute, Penn State, and the NANOGrav Group at West Virginia University. The team includes SETI Institute researcher Michael Lam and former SETI Institute researcher Grayce Brown.

IMAGE: Pulsar scintillation Credit Illustration by Zayna Sheikh

[abaashishb7]

Interstellar Medium Mysteries: What Lies in the Dark Spaces Between Stars?

* Comprehending the Interstellar Medium 

As we look out into the expansive universe, our attention frequently gravitates toward the brilliant stars and luminous galaxies. Yet, the dark regions that lie in between concealing significant cosmic mysteries. These apparently vacant expanses are populated by the interstellar medium (ISM)—a diverse combination of gas, dust, and charged particles that are essential in influencing the structure and evolution of the universe. Read More...

[joshuaboakley]

The stars are not alone. In the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, about 10 percent of visible matter is in the form of gas called the interstellar medium (ISM). The ISM is not uniform and shows patchiness even near our Sun. It can be quite difficult to detect the local ISM because it is so tenuous and emits so little light. This mostly hydrogen gas, however, absorbs some very specific colors that can…

[aether-light777]

"Lets Go On Exciting Treasure Hunt - AETHERrock.com SUBSCRIBE & Have Fun.

"Lets Go On Exciting Treasure Hunt for AETHERRocks -  Go to: Aetherrock.com Click on: "Click & Scroll Down To Reach AETHERRock TREASURES" AETHERRocks are the most Beautiful, Rare, and most Exotic Rocks on earth. 1. "Scroll All The Way Down To Reach The AETHERRock TREASURES". 2. Click on each AETHERRock and keep scrolling down to search for each TREASURE. 3. Click on each AETHERRock to inspect details of individual AETHERRocks, and find TREASURES of Information, as well as Treasures of Exotic Beauty. Keep scrolling down after each click in search of AETHERRock TREASURES. Enjoy Your Hunt & Enjoy These Beautiful Exotic "AETHERRocks". I found out today that we have millions of Black Diamond and Meteorite lovers. It is so much fun to examine these 2.5 billion year old rocks and meteorites. We are unique people on this earth......Every rock in the universe is unique. By: Aether-Light.com "AETHERRock Black Diamond Meteorite"  is from Interstellar Space. This AETHERRock Heirloom is the only "Amorphous Carbon Black Diamond Meteorite" in the world. This AETHERRock has a GIA Report to prove its authenticity. The "AETHERRock Black Diamond Meteorite" has been appraised at $100,000,000.   The AETHERROCK Mine, in Nevada, is the oldest and largest impact event area of known extraterrestrial meteorite, asteroid, and comet bombardment of the earth. The AETHERRock is mined from 2.5 billion years old Archean Rock from the North Eastern Humboldt Mountain Range in Elko, Nevada (The Great Basin). This AETHERRock is a Stony Meteorite, as it is from interstellar space and it is not magnetic.In space the occurrence of Amorphous Carbon is observed in circumstellar envelopes around carbon stars. Amorphous Carbon have also been found in the matrix of Carbonaceous Chondrites (Stony Meteorites), (Brearley 2008). Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon (HAC) materials have been considered as a laboratory analog of cosmic carbonaceous nanoparticles in the interstellar medium (ISM). All forms of carbonaceous matter are supposed to be originated from Amorphous Carbon in the interstellar medium (ISM).Natural black diamonds do exist, though they are extremely rare; even they are not as rare as this AETHERRock Black Diamond Meteorite. "Impact Event" Small asteroids that disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere. AETHERRocks are a result of an ancient impact event more than 2.5 billion years ago. The AETHERRock is mined in only one place in the world; Nevada, USA by Aetherrock.com. AETHERRock presents a limited amount of AETHERRocks sold per year; and there are no deposits accepted for next year's AETHERRock. By: AETHERRock.com or Aether-Light.com "AETHERRock Black Diamond Meteorite"  is from Interstellar Space. This AETHERRock Heirloom is the only "Amorphous Carbon Black Diamond Meteorite" in the world. This AETHERRock has a GIA Report to prove its authenticity. The "AETHERRock Black Diamond Meteorite" has been appraised at $100,000,000.   The AETHERROCK Mine, in Nevada, is the oldest and largest impact event area of known extraterrestrial meteorite, asteroid, and comet bombardment of the earth. The AETHERRock is mined from 2.5 billion years old Archean Rock from the North Eastern Humboldt Mountain Range in Elko, Nevada (The Great Basin). This AETHERRock is a Stony Meteorite, as it is from interstellar space and it is not magnetic.In space the occurrence of Amorphous Carbon is observed in circumstellar envelopes around carbon stars. Amorphous Carbon have also been found in the matrix of Carbonaceous Chondrites (Stony Meteorites), (Brearley 2008). Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon (HAC) materials have been considered as a laboratory analog of cosmic carbonaceous nanoparticles in the interstellar medium (ISM). All forms of carbonaceous matter are supposed to be originated from Amorphous Carbon in the interstellar medium (ISM).Natural black diamonds do exist, though they are extremely rare; even they are not as rare as this AETHERRock Black Diamond Meteorite. "Impact Event" Small asteroids that disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere. AETHERRocks are a result of an ancient impact event more than 2.5 billion years ago. The AETHERRock is mined in only one place in the world; Nevada, USA by Aetherrock.com. AETHERRock presents a limited amount of AETHERRocks sold per year; and there are no deposits accepted for next year's AETHERRock. By: AETHERRock.com or Aether-Light.com

[theexclusivestory]

How does the Interstellar medium affect our view of most of the galaxy?

In space, what we see isn't just stars and galaxies shining brightly. There's something called the Interstellar medium (ISM) that's all around us, and it's really important for understanding the galaxy. Even though we might not think about it much, the Interstellar medium (ISM) has a big effect on what we see in space. In this article, we'll understand about how the interstellar medium affects our view of the galaxy by looking at its different parts and how they change what we see when we look up at the stars. Read more.

[sanjaylodh]

hydrogen reaction

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

this whole solar system

Carbon component is not organic

Earth is but a weapon

There is organic and there is also biological.

There is organic and there is also biological.

Earth is but a weapon

There is organic and there is also biological.

There is organic and there is also biological.

this whole solar system

Carbon component is not organic

Carbon component is not organic

this whole solar system

Carbon component is not organic

Carbon component is not organic

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

This entire solar system is a flow of hydrogen

There is no shortage of carbon here

Is the entire solar system subject to the carbon cycle?

Dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) is a well-mixed distribution of carbonaceous and silicate grains [1,2] that ultimately serves as the source for the solids in the solar nebula. According to this model [1], roughly 88% of the carbon and 100% of silicon, iron, magnesium, and other metal oxides are in solids with a grain size distribution proportional to ~r−3.5. Graphite grains range from 0.005 to 1 micron in radius, while the silicate size ranges from 0.025 to 0.25 micron. Once these solids become part of a giant molecular cloud, they can become coated in ices of water, CO, CO2, and ammonia that can be processed by UV photons generated by galactic cosmic rays [3,4]. Processing produces more complex molecular ices as well as an organic coating on the grains. These materials are heated as they fall into the solar nebula.

In order to gauge the degree of heating and the severity of processing of these grains in the hot inner solar nebula, we will compare the initial theoretical distribution described above with the matrices of carbonaceous chondrites. Silicate matrix grains range from ~5 microns down to the nanometer-scale. Other components of primitive meteorites are much larger (mm–cm), while carbon is generally <<10% by mass. This implies that virtually all (>99%) of the presolar silicate grains were at least melted (if not vaporized) in order to transform them into this much larger size distribution [5]. If nearly all silicates were processed at temperatures sufficient to melt and fuse grains into larger size aggregates, then the accompanying carbonaceous materials must have reached similar temperatures and been processed through related reactions.

The initial solid-state chemical distribution contained ~8 × 106 carbon atoms (e.g., 88% of carbon in graphite grains) for every 1 × 106 silicon atoms, not counting any carbon added as an organic coating on grain surfaces. In order to calculate the oxygen abundance within the grains, we take the Si + Mg + Fe cosmic abundance of 2.974 × 106 atoms and assume that the initial valence state of Si is (+4), Mg is (+2), and Fe is (half +2 and half +3). If all metals are saturated oxides, then the amount of oxygen in dust is ~4.087 × 106 atoms, again not counting any oxygen in organic dust mantles. If this were a closed chemical system, then all of the silicon, magnesium, and iron would be reduced to the respective metals, roughly half of the carbon would be converted to CO, and half would remain as graphite.

Since most metals in meteorite matrices are oxidized and carbon is an insignificant fraction of their total mass, thermal processing must have occurred in an open system. The cosmic abundance of nebular oxygen is ~18.8 × 106 for every 106 silicon atoms, so oxygen is roughly twice as abundant as carbon and occurs primarily as CO, O, OH, and H2O at high temperatures. There is sufficient nebular oxygen to oxidize all of the remaining carbon to CO and CO2, and all of the metals back to oxides (if any were actually reduced in the first place), and still leave ~107 oxygen atoms in water and other gas phase oxides.

Connolly et al. [6] have demonstrated that the addition of a small fraction of carbon (as graphite or diamond) to an experimental charge of olivine and pyroxene grains produces excellent chondrule analogs. In addition, during rapid experimental heating, the internal redox state of the melt does not immediately equilibrate with the gas mixture used to control the oxygen fugacity of the experiment. Instead, the microenvironment inside the experimental charges is much more reducing than the gas and therefore, produces metallic grains within the melt rather than just along the surface of the charge. These chondrule analogs closely resemble natural samples.

In summary, the processing of the silicate grain population from its presolar size distribution into much larger planets, asteroids, calcium aluminum inclusions (CAIs), chondrules, and matrix implies that the associated carbonaceous materials were exposed to similar temperatures in a sufficient excess of oxygen to convert all carbon atoms into CO and CO2. While some molecular-cloud carbonaceous dust did survive processing in the nebula [7], much in the same manner as did some presolar oxide grains [8], such materials constitute only a small fraction of meteoritic carbon and are clearly distinguished by elevated D/H, 15N/14N, 13C/12C, or other isotopic ratios or noble gas patterns. Under such circumstances, why does carbon exist beyond trace amounts in the inner solar system at all?

How is solar energy related to the carbon cycle?

Solar power produces no emissions during generation itself, and life-cycle assessments clearly demonstrate that it has a smaller carbon footprint from "cradle-to-grave" than fossil fuels.

Do solar panels produce CO2?

Solar panels emit around 50g of CO2 per kWh produced in its first few years of operation. By the third year of having solar panels, most solar panels become carbon neutral.

Where is carbon in solar system?

Just about everywhere you look in the solar system, you find carbon: from the searing atmosphere of Venus to the oily slush of Titan to the hair of the dog that bit you. In fact, carbon is the fourth most common element in the solar system after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen.11 Nov 2019

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

this whole solar system

Carbon component is not organic

Earth is but a weapon

There is organic and there is also biological.

There is organic and there is also biological.

Earth is but a weapon

There is organic and there is also biological.

There is organic and there is also biological.

this whole solar system

Carbon component is not organic

Carbon component is not organic

this whole solar system

Carbon component is not organic

Carbon component is not organic

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

this earth's atmosphere

Identity is also for life

Identity is also for life

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

hydrogen reaction

Not just fusion, not just water

Not just fusion, not just water

Translate Hindi

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

सारा यह सौरमडल

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

धरती मगर है एक हथियार

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

धरती मगर है एक हथियार

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

सारा यह सौरमडल

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

सारा यह सौरमडल

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

यह सारा सौरमंडल हाइड्रोजन की प्रवाह है

यहाँ कार्बन की कोई कमी नहीं है

संपूर्ण सौरमंडल क्या कार्बन चक्राधीन है

इंटरस्टेलर माध्यम (आईएसएम) में धूल कार्बोनेसियस और सिलिकेट अनाज का एक अच्छी तरह से मिश्रित वितरण है [1,2] जो अंततः सौर निहारिका में ठोस पदार्थों के स्रोत के रूप में कार्य करता है। इस मॉडल [1] के अनुसार, लगभग 88% कार्बन और 100% सिलिकॉन, लोहा, मैग्नीशियम और अन्य धातु ऑक्साइड ~r−3.5 के आनुपातिक अनाज आकार वितरण के साथ ठोस पदार्थों में हैं। ग्रेफाइट कणों की त्रिज्या 0.005 से 1 माइक्रोन तक होती है, जबकि सिलिकेट का आकार 0.025 से 0.25 माइक्रोन तक होता है। एक बार जब ये ठोस एक विशाल आणविक बादल का हिस्सा बन जाते हैं, तो वे पानी, सीओ, सीओ2 और अमोनिया की बर्फ में लेपित हो सकते हैं, जिन्हें गैलेक्टिक कॉस्मिक किरणों द्वारा उत्पन्न यूवी फोटॉन द्वारा संसाधित किया जा सकता है [3,4]। प्रसंस्करण से अधिक जटिल आणविक बर्फ के साथ-साथ अनाज पर एक कार्बनिक कोटिंग भी बनती है। सौर निहारिका में गिरते ही ये सामग्रियां गर्म हो जाती हैं।

गर्म आंतरिक सौर निहारिका में इन अनाजों के ताप की डिग्री और प्रसंस्करण की गंभीरता को मापने के लिए, हम ऊपर वर्णित प्रारंभिक सैद्धांतिक वितरण की तुलना कार्बोनेसियस चोंड्रेइट्स के मैट्रिक्स से करेंगे। सिलिकेट मैट्रिक्स अनाज ~ 5 माइक्रोन से लेकर नैनोमीटर-स्केल तक होते हैं। आदिम उल्कापिंडों के अन्य घटक बहुत बड़े (मिमी-सेमी) हैं, जबकि कार्बन आम तौर पर द्रव्यमान के हिसाब से <<10% होता है। इसका तात्पर्य यह है कि लगभग सभी (>99%) प्रीसोलर सिलिकेट अनाज को इतने बड़े आकार के वितरण में बदलने के लिए कम से कम पिघलाया गया था (यदि वाष्पीकृत नहीं किया गया था)। यदि लगभग सभी सिलिकेट्स को पिघलने और अनाज को बड़े आकार के समुच्चय में मिलाने के लिए पर्याप्त तापमान पर संसाधित किया गया था, तो साथ में मौजूद कार्बोनेसियस सामग्री समान तापमान तक पहुंच गई होगी और संबंधित प्रतिक्रियाओं के माध्यम से संसाधित की गई होगी।

प्रारंभिक ठोस-अवस्था रासायनिक वितरण में प्रत्येक 1 × 106 सिलिकॉन परमाणुओं के लिए ~ 8 × 106 कार्बन परमाणु (उदाहरण के लिए, ग्रेफाइट अनाज में 88% कार्बन) शा��िल थे, अनाज की सतहों पर कार्बनिक कोटिंग के रूप में जोड़े गए किसी भी कार्बन की गिनती नहीं की गई थी। अनाज के भीतर ऑक्सीजन की प्रचुरता की गणना करने के लिए, हम 2.974 × 106 परमाणुओं की Si + Mg + Fe ब्रह्मांडीय प्रचुरता लेते हैं और मानते हैं कि Si की प्रारंभिक संयोजकता अवस्था (+4), Mg (+2) है, और Fe है। (आधा +2 और आधा +3) है। यदि सभी धातुएँ संतृप्त ऑक्साइड हैं, तो धूल में ऑक्सीजन की मात्रा ~4.087 × 106 परमाणु है, फिर से कार्बनिक धूल मेंटल में किसी भी ऑक्सीजन की गिनती नहीं की जाती है। यदि यह एक बंद रासायनिक प्रणाली होती, तो सभी सिलिकॉन, मैग्नीशियम और लोहा संबंधित धातुओं में बदल जाते, लगभग आधा कार्बन CO में परिवर्तित हो जाता, और आधा ग्रेफाइट के रूप में रह जाता।

चूँकि उल्कापिंड मैट्रिक्स में अधिकांश धातुएँ ऑक्सीकृत होती हैं और कार्बन उनके कुल द्रव्यमान का एक नगण्य अंश होता है, थर्मल प्रसंस्करण एक खुली प्रणाली में हुआ होगा। प्रत्येक 106 सिलिकॉन परमाणुओं के लिए निहारिका ऑक्सीजन की ब्रह्मांडीय प्रचुरता ~18.8 × 106 है, इसलिए ऑक्सीजन कार्बन की तुलना में लगभग दोगुनी प्रचुर मात्रा में है और उच्च तापमान पर मुख्य रूप से CO, O, OH और H2O के रूप में पाई जाती है। शेष सभी कार्बन को CO और CO2 में ऑक्सीकृत करने के लिए पर्याप्त नीहारिका ऑक्सीजन है, और सभी धातुएँ ऑक्साइड में वापस आ जाती हैं (यदि कोई वास्तव में पहले स्थान पर कम हो गई थी), और फिर भी पानी और अन्य गैस चरण में ~107 ऑक्सीजन परमाणु छोड़ते हैं आक्साइड.

कोनोली एट अल. [6] ने प्रदर्शित किया है कि ओलिवाइन और पाइरोक्सिन अनाज के प्रायोगिक चार्ज में कार्बन का एक छोटा सा अंश (ग्रेफाइट या हीरे के रूप में) जोड़ने से उत्कृष्ट चोंड्रूल एनालॉग उत्पन्न होते हैं। इसके अलावा, तेजी से प्रायोगिक हीटिंग के दौरान, पिघल की आंतरिक रेडॉक्स स्थिति प्रयोग की ऑक्सीजन फ़्यूगेसिटी को नियंत्रित करने के लिए उपयोग किए जाने वाले गैस मिश्रण के साथ तुरंत संतुलित नहीं होती है। इसके बजाय, प्रायोगिक आवेशों के अंदर का सूक्ष्म वातावरण गैस की तुलना में बहुत अधिक कम करने वाला होता है और इसलिए, आवेश की सतह के बजाय पिघल के भीतर धातु के दाने पैदा करता है। ये चोंड्रूल एनालॉग्स प्राकृतिक नमूनों से काफी मिलते जुलते हैं।

संक्षेप में, सिलिकेट अनाज की आबादी को उसके पूर्व-सौर आकार के वितरण से बहुत बड़े ग्रहों, क्षुद्रग्रहों, कैल्शियम एल्यूमीनियम समावेशन (सीएआई), चोंड्र्यूल्स और मैट्रिक्स में संसाधित करने से पता चलता है कि संबंधित कार्बनयुक्त सामग्री ऑक्सीजन की पर्याप्त मात्रा में समान तापमान के संपर्क में थी। सभी कार्बन परमाणुओं को CO और CO2 में परिवर्तित करना। जबकि कुछ आणविक-बादल कार्बोनेसियस धूल नेबुला में प्रसंस्करण से बचे रहे [7], उसी तरह जैसे कुछ प्रीसोलर ऑक्साइड अनाज [8], ऐसी सामग्री उल्कापिंड कार्बन का के��ल एक छोटा सा अंश बनाती है और स्पष्ट रूप से ऊंचे डी/ द्वारा प्रतिष्ठित होती है। एच, 15एन/14एन, 13सी/12सी, या अन्य समस्थानिक अनुपात या उत्कृष्ट गैस पैटर्न। ऐसी परिस्थितियों में, आंतरिक सौर मंडल में कार्बन ट्रेस मात्रा से अधिक क्यों मौजूद है?

सौर ऊर्जा कार्बन चक्र से किस प्रकार संबंधित है?

सौर ऊर्जा उत्पादन के दौरान कोई उत्सर्जन नहीं करती है, और जीवन-चक्र मूल्यांकन स्पष्ट रूप से प्रदर्शित करता है कि जीवाश्म ईंधन की तुलना में "पालने से कब्र तक" इसका कार्बन पदचिह्न छोटा है।

क्या सौर पैनल CO2 उत्पन्न करते हैं?

सौर पैनल अपने संचालन के पहले कुछ वर्षों में उत्पादित प्रति किलोवाट लगभग 50 ग्राम CO2 उत्सर्जित करते हैं। सौर पैनल लगाने के तीसरे वर्ष तक, अधिकांश सौर पैनल कार्बन तटस्थ हो जाते हैं।

सौर मंडल में कार्बन कहाँ है?

सौर मंडल में आप जहां भी देखें, आपको कार्बन मिलेगा: शुक्र के तपते वातावरण से लेकर टाइटन के तैलीय कीचड़ तक और आपको काटने वाले कुत्ते के बाल तक। वास्तव में, हाइड्रोजन, हीलियम और ऑक्सीजन के बाद कार्बन सौर मंडल में चौथा सबसे आम तत्व है।11 नवंबर 2019

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

सारा यह सौरमडल

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

धरती मगर है एक हथियार

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

धरती मगर है एक हथियार

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

कार्बनिक भी और जैवनिक भी है

सारा यह सौरमडल

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

सारा यह सौरमडल

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

कार्बन घटक पर जैवनिक न है

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

यह धरती की वातावरण

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

जीवन के लिए भी है पहचानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

हाइड्रोजन का रिएक्शन

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

न सिर्फ फ्यूजन न सिर्फ पानी

[spacenutspod]

AbstractChloronium, H2Cl+, is detected in astrophysical media. It is key chemical intermediate for understanding of the physical chemistry of chlorine species there. At present, we compute the collision rates for the rotational excitation and de-excitation of ortho- and para-H2Cl+ colliding with He for T ≤ 150 K, relevant for the interstellar medium (ISM) conditions. Prior to that, we generated the 3D interaction potential of the weakly bound H2Cl+-He complex along the Jacobi coordinates. For electronic structure computations, we used a post-Hartree-Fock explicitly correlated method at the CCSD(T)-F12/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The analytical expansion of this potential was incorporated into close coupling computations of the cross-sections for the rotational excitation and de-excitation of ortho- and para-H2Cl+ colliding with He and for collision kinetic energies Ek ≤ 1000 cm−1. The rates were obtained after averaging these cross-sections over a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution of kinetic energies. Our data show that the ∆j=∆ka=∆kc=−1 de-excitation transitions exhibit the largest values, in particular those used to identify this cation in the surveys. Besides, our results should help for determining more accurate abundances of H2Cl+ in the ISM and thus better modelling the chlorine chemistry there.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Astronomers Discover New Building Blocks of Complex Organic Matter

CfA scientists help detect a new molecule in interstellar space as list of identified complex molecules grows

The element carbon is a building block for life, both on Earth and potentially elsewhere in the vast reaches of space. There should be a lot of carbon in space, but surprisingly, it's not always easy to find. 

While it can be observed in many places, it doesn’t add up to the volume astronomers would expect to see. The discovery of a new, complex molecule (1-cyanopyrene), challenges expectations about where the building blocks for carbon are found and how they evolve. 

Astronomers have long understood that certain carbon-rich stars are soot factories that release copious quantities of small molecular sheets of carbon into the interstellar medium. Scientists thought, however, that these types of carbon-rich molecules could neither survive the harsh conditions of interstellar space nor be re-formed there by combustion-like chemistry because the temperature is far too low.

Researchers from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) helped lead this research. A paper describing these results was published today in the journal Science. 

“Our detection of 1-cyanopyrene gives us important new information about the chemical origin and fate of carbon -- the single most important element to complex chemistry both on Earth and in space,” said Bryan Changala of the CfA, a co-author of the Science paper. 

The 1-cyanopyrene molecule is made up of multiple fused benzene rings. It belongs to a class of compounds known as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which were previously believed to form only at high temperatures in regions with lots of energy, like the environments surrounding aging stars. On Earth, PAHs are found in burning fossil fuels, and as char marks on grilled food. 

Astronomers study PAHs not just to learn about their particular lifecycle, but to learn more about how they interact with and reveal more about the interstellar medium (ISM) and celestial bodies around them. PAHs are believed to be responsible for the unidentified infrared bands observed in many astronomical objects. These bands arise from the infrared fluorescence of PAHs after they absorb ultraviolet (UV) photons from stars. The intensity of these bands reveal PAHs could account for a significant fraction of carbon in the ISM. 

However, the newly observed 1-cyanopyrene molecules were found in Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 (TMC-1), a cold interstellar cloud. Located in the Taurus constellation, TMC-1 has not yet begun forming stars, and the temperature is only about 10 degrees above absolute zero.

“TMC-1 is a natural laboratory for studying these molecules that go on to form the building blocks of stars and planets,” said Gabi Wenzel, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who led the lab work and is the first author on the Science paper.

“These are the largest molecules we’ve found in TMC-1 to date. This discovery pushes the boundaries of our understanding of the complexity of molecules that can exist in interstellar space,” said co-author Brett McGuire, an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MIT and an adjunct astronomer at the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).

Astronomers used the NSF Green Bank Telescope, the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world, to discover 1-cyanopyrene. Every molecule has a unique rotational spectrum, like a fingerprint, which allows for its identification. However, their large size and lack of a permanent dipole moment, can make some PAHs difficult – or even impossible – to detect. The observations of cyanopyrene can provide indirect evidence for the presence of even larger and more complex molecules in future observations. 

“Identifying the unique rotational spectrum of 1-cyanopyrene required the work of an interdisciplinary scientific team,” explains co-author Harshal Gupta, NSF Program Director for the Green Bank Observatory and Research Associate at the CfA. “This discovery is a great illustration of synthetic chemists, spectroscopists, astronomers, and modelers working closely and harmoniously.”

This research combined the expertise of astronomy and chemistry with measurements and analysis conducted in the molecular spectroscopy laboratory of Dr. Michael McCarthy at the CfA. 

“The microwave spectrometers developed at the CfA are unique, world-class instruments specifically designed to measure the precise radio fingerprints of complex molecules like 1-cyanopyrene,” said McCarthy. “Predictions from even the most advanced quantum chemical theories are still thousands of times less accurate than what is needed to identify these molecules in space with radio telescopes, so experiments in laboratories like ours are indispensable to these ground-breaking astronomical discoveries."

IMAGE: CfA scientists help detect a new molecule in interstellar space as list of identified complex molecules grows Credit: NSF/NSF NRAO/AUI/S. Dagnello

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS THE DARK NEBULA??

Blog#294

Saturday, May 6th, 2023

Welcome back,

In “What is a Nebula”, we considered emission nebulae, now we are going to look at nebulae where the opposite process absorption happens.

Anyway, let’s start from a larger scale: the interstellar medium (ISM) is, as the name suggests, the matter that lies between the stars and star systems of a galaxy. It’s mainly composed of dust particles and atomic, ionic or molecular gas.

An interstellar cloud is a place where this gas and dust accumulate, meaning the region is denser than the surrounding ISM. Again, the gas can come it the three forms mentioned just before, and since the most abundant element of the ISM (and indeed of the Universe overall) is Hydrogen, the clouds are referred to as H I region, H II region or molecular (H2) cloud respectively.

The special type of interstellar molecular cloud we are considering here is called “dark” because it is dense enough to block background light – at least in the visible wavelengths, since objects behind dark nebulae may be observed in (notably) radio observations.

More precisely, the opacity is due to the dust grains the nebula contains, because those have the capacity to absorb the light. Recall that emission was the process of releasing a photon, by analogy we can see that absorption is an atom taking in a photon. Added to that, there is the process of extinction, which is absorption followed by scattering of the light; this can give information about the composition of these dust grains. This is similar to a “normal” cloud on Earth which blocks sunlight (and starlight, which is a pain for astrophotographers – check out ours tips on how to make the most of your observations here).

Since light is prevented from entering the nebula, its centre will cool. Dust grains emit infrared radiation, which further removes energy. At the same time, the pressure of gravity makes the cloud contract, until it dominates, and the matter condenses together. This is the formation of a protostar. The collapse is rather rapid, as the matter undergoes a free fall to that centre of gravity. Due to the irregular shapes that molecular clouds can have, protostars may form in different parts of it where the density is higher.

Moreover, leftover material can accrete into protoplanets, orbiting the protostar.

As opposed to what’s recommended for the other types of nebulae, you don’t have to use narrowband filters to observe a dark nebula, since what you’re trying to observe is the dark part. The image above was taken with the Luminance, Red, Green and Blue (LRGB) filters, which creates a beautiful background by an emission nebula behind the Horsehead Nebula.

Note that it has another name, Barnard 33; the Barnard Catalogue is the place to look for your Dark Nebula target, as Edward Barnard identified about 370 of these objects.

Originally published on telescope.live

COMING UP!!

(Wednesday, May 10th, 2023)

"WHAT IS THE KARDASHEV SCALE??"

[risarchives]

starlight is the light emitted by stars. so long as avior (a binary star) has hope, starlight will never grow hopeless. on the other hand, freelancer was, in the prime universe, referred to as the space between my stars by gavin, which in astronomy is called the interstellar medium (ism). this matter contains hydrogen, dust, and other molecules that are basically what gives life (& home) to stars. once freelancer stops twinkling (being hopeful), there will arise the possibility that gavin/vindemiator (vindemiatrix - a star in the virgo constellation) too will be in a state of hopelessness.

the star forces out the light, which becomes starlight. whereas the ism gives life to the star, the disappearance of which can erase the existence of the star/s.

avior drives starlight’s hope while freelancer inspires that of vindemiator/gavin. (← esp. as narrative tools)

recent audio spoilers / a+sl/v+fl analysis continuation

in the recent audio, avior’s part focused on him and his plans. in its entirety, he was doubtful of mass maker sam; a doubt which is amplified by his determination to be successful in the mission of their resistance against the imperium. when starlight came into the picture, they were also filled with doubt. avior’s doubt and determination fueled that of starlight.

jumping onto vindemiator’s part, which focused on his affection for the freelancer. halfway through, fl brought up their desire to run away with him and despite vin’s protests about his role with avior and in the rebellion, he ended up agreeing to their pleas. freelancer’s growing hopelessness fueled that of vindemiator.

... well, not really. i don't think vin grew hopeless; instead, i think he really just wanted a peaceful life with his partner, however long or short. i think the proper phrase would then be: freelancer’s dreams of an ordinary life inspired vindemiator’s choice of taking risks. massive risks—dangerous even. maybe, maybe.

in summary: avior’s emotions are the basis of those of starlight. freelancer’s emotions drive those of vin to their summit. avior compels, freelancer inspires.

[apod]

2021 May 6

Windblown NGC 3199 Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby and Roberto Colombari

Explanation: NGC 3199 lies about 12,000 light-years away, a glowing cosmic cloud in the nautical southern constellation of Carina. The nebula is about 75 light-years across in this narrowband, false-color view. Though the deep image reveals a more or less complete bubble shape, it does look very lopsided with a much brighter edge along the top. Near the center is a Wolf-Rayet star, a massive, hot, short-lived star that generates an intense stellar wind. In fact, Wolf-Rayet stars are known to create nebulae with interesting shapes as their powerful winds sweep up surrounding interstellar material. In this case, the bright edge was thought to indicate a bow shock produced as the star plowed through a uniform medium, like a boat through water. But measurements have shown the star is not really moving directly toward the bright edge. So a more likely explanation is that the material surrounding the star is not uniform, but clumped and denser near the bright edge of windblown NGC 3199.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210506.html

[beyondtheuniversesstuff]

Supernova Remnant

The Crab nebula is one of the most famous Supernova Remnants.

A supernova remnant (SNR) is a diffuse, expanding nebula that results from a supernova explosion. They are categorised into three main types based on their appearance, with the differences arising due to variations in initial progenitor and explosion conditions, density variations in the interstellar medium (ISM) and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities.

The SNR consists of material ejected in the supernova explosion itself, as well as other interstellar material that has been swept up by the passage of the shock wave from the exploded star. Although not necessarily visible at optical wavelengths, SNRs tend to be powerful X-ray and radio emitters due to interactions with the surrounding ISM. They typically last several hundred thousand years before dispersing into the ISM, during which time they evolve through 3 main stages:

Free Expansion:

When the supernova first explodes, a shock wave is sent out through the star. Once it has passed through the stellar material, it continues to expand into the surrounding ISM creating a shock wave in the interstellar gas in the forward direction, and also a shock in the reverse direction, back into the supernova ejecta. This shocked material is heated to millions of degrees Kelvin resulting in the emission of thermal X-rays.The shock wave also accelerates the ISM into an expanding shell which outputs copious amounts of synchrotron radiation due to the acceleration of electrons in the presence of a magnetic field. This expanding shell surrounds an area of relatively low density, into which the supernova ejecta expands freely, typically with velocities of around 10,000 km/s. This free expansion phase lasts for around 100 – 200 years until the mass of the material swept up by the shock wave exceeds the mass of the ejected material.

Adiabatic (Sedov-Taylor) Phase

As the mass of the ISM swept up by the shock wave increases, it eventually reaches densities which start to impede the free expansion. Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities arise once the mass of the swept up ISM approaches that of the ejected material. These instabilities mix the shocked ISM with the supernova ejecta and enhance the magnetic field inside the SNR shell. This phase lasts between 10,000 and 20,000 years.

Radiative Phase

The shock wave continues to cool, and once temperatures drop below about 20,000 Kelvin, electrons start recombining to form heavier elements. This recombination process radiates energy much more efficiently than the thermal X-rays and synchrotron emission produced thus far, further cooling the shock wave which ultimately disperses into the surrounding ISM.

Supernova remnants play a vital role in the evolution of galaxies. Apart from their role of dispersing the heavy elements made in the supernova explosion into the ISM, they provide much of the energy that heats up the ISM and are believed to be responsible for the acceleration of galactic cosmic rays.

[joshuaboakley]

The stars are not alone. In the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, about 10 percent of visible matter is in the form of gas called the interstellar medium (ISM). The ISM is not uniform and shows patchiness even near our Sun. It can be quite difficult to detect the local ISM because it is so tenuous and emits so little light. This mostly hydrogen gas, however, absorbs some very specific colors that can…