For the first time, astronomers have detected phosphorus-bearing molecules—key ingredients of DNA and RNA—in a cold, starless core, one of the earliest phases of star formation. Using the IRAM 30-meter and Yebes 40-meter telescopes, researchers identified phosphorus mononitride (PN), phosphorus monoxide (PO), and the phosphorus oxide ion (PO⁺) in a pristine interstellar cloud 1,000 light-years away in the Perseus region.
This rare discovery, led by Samantha Scibelli (NRAO), offers vital clues about how life-essential elements become available to emerging planetary systems and suggests phosphorus chemistry begins much earlier in the star and planet formation process than previously thought.
Read the full study in a paper, “First detections of PN, PO and PO+ toward a shocked low-mass starless core” published in ApJ Letters.
Read the IRAM press realease here
Image: Visual wavelength image of the Perseus molecular cloud. The starless core Pers326 is located in NGC 1333. Perseus is well-studied region of low-mass star formation in our Galaxy. Image credit: Adam Block. Originally published in Bally et al., 2008.