Jan 2018, phys.org
New data from the National Science Foundation's Green
Bank Telescope (GBT) show, for the first time, the convincing radio
fingerprints of a close cousin and chemical precursor to PAHs, the molecule
benzonitrile (C6H5CN). This detection may finally provide the "smoking
gun" that PAHs are indeed spread throughout interstellar space and account
for the mysterious infrared light astronomers had been observing. -phys.org
Limbic Signal is not exactly the venue for space talk,
but when the talk is about things aromatic, it comes up on our radar. Just
taking a moment here to clarify the semantics.
"Aromatic" doesn't necessarily refer to aroma,
but an entire group of chemicals that form a ring of interconnected carbon
atoms studded with hydrogen atoms on the outside. The first of these carbon
ring molecules to be discovered was very distinctively pleasant-smelling, and
so the following discoveries made of similarly formed molecules were also
called aromatic molecules.
The interesting part of the story is that these are
organic molecules, containing so much of the carbon that is an integral part of
organic life. Therefore there is a equanimity between the words aromatic and
organic, as far as chemistry is concerned... The ultimate implication here is
that outer space has within its cold, lifeless vacuum a very regular dispersion
of very complex molecules that make up the building blocks of life. In other words,
as we learn more and more about the world outside of our planet, the more we
realize it is not as lifeless as we thought.
