GRAINS of cosmic dust coated with ice may have been the source of complex
organic molecules that kick-started life on Earth, according to astronomers who
have been studying data from a new infrared telescope.
Since last year, NASA’s Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) has
been looking at infrared emissions from molecular clouds in interstellar space.
It’s the first telescope sensitive enough to examine the coldest regions of the
clouds.
One of the mission’s aims has been to look for water and molecular oxygen. To
the SWAS team’s surprise, molecular clouds at only a few kelvin contained less
than 1 per…
