LIFE COULD HAVE EXISTED IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE
The elements that formed life have been discovered in galaxies that are so far away that the light images we can gather of them are a glimpse into their existence when the universe was 75% younger than it is today. Scientists have discovered organic molecules called hydrocarbons present in this early universe. These molecules are the building blocks of life. Scientists do not know how life formed from organic material into living material. This finding therefore doesn’t give any idea of whether there is or was life in the universe, only that the building blocks were there.
They galaxies they viewed are almost 10 billion light-years away and are therefore seen as they were 10 billion years ago. George Helou says that “Planets and life had very early opportunities to emerge in the universe.”
The hydrocarbons discovered are found throughout the Milky Way.
The leading theory of the development of the universe implies that at first matter was mostly hydrogen. It is believed that new and heavier elements formed as the first stars were born, burned, and died. Among these are oxygen and metals. As more and more stars lived and burnt out more and more elements emerged, and some of these elements combined into hydrocarbons. These, combined with water, are the ingredients of life. However, scientists do not know how life formed.
You may be wondering how scientists can tell what elements are present by merely viewing a distant galaxy. Scientists did this by viewing the infrared light shed by the galaxies and splitting the infrared light into a spectrum of its colors. The colors of the burning stars reveal what element is present.
I learned all the information I just described in an article written by Robert Roy Britt, a writer for the website of SPACE.
The elements that formed life have been discovered in galaxies that are so far away that the light images we can gather of them are a glimpse into their existence when the universe was 75% younger than it is today. Scientists have discovered organic molecules called hydrocarbons present in this early universe. These molecules are the building blocks of life. Scientists do not know how life formed from organic material into living material. This finding therefore doesn’t give any idea of whether there is or was life in the universe, only that the building blocks were there.
They galaxies they viewed are almost 10 billion light-years away and are therefore seen as they were 10 billion years ago. George Helou says that “Planets and life had very early opportunities to emerge in the universe.”
The hydrocarbons discovered are found throughout the Milky Way.
The leading theory of the development of the universe implies that at first matter was mostly hydrogen. It is believed that new and heavier elements formed as the first stars were born, burned, and died. Among these are oxygen and metals. As more and more stars lived and burnt out more and more elements emerged, and some of these elements combined into hydrocarbons. These, combined with water, are the ingredients of life. However, scientists do not know how life formed.
You may be wondering how scientists can tell what elements are present by merely viewing a distant galaxy. Scientists did this by viewing the infrared light shed by the galaxies and splitting the infrared light into a spectrum of its colors. The colors of the burning stars reveal what element is present.
I learned all the information I just described in an article written by Robert Roy Britt, a writer for the website of SPACE.
posted by Caroline at 9:03 PM
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