Astronomers Discover First Noble Gas Molecules in Space (VIDEO)
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Noble gas molecules have been detected in space for the first time in the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant, by astronomers at UCL Led by Professor Mike Barlow (UCL Department of Physics & Astronomy) the team used ESA's Herschel Space Observatory to observe the Crab Nebula in far infrared light. Their measurements of regions of cold gas and dust led them to the serendipitous discovery of the chemical fingerprint of argon hydride ions, published today in the journal Science. The findings support scientists' theories of how argon forms in nature. The Herschel Space Observatory, an ESA space telescope which recently completed its mission, is the biggest space telescope ever to have flown. Herschel's instruments were designed to detect far-infrared light, which has much longer wavelengths than we can see with our eyes. "We were doing a survey of the dust in several bright supernova remnants using Herschel, one of which was the Crab Nebula. Discovering argon hydride ions here was unexpected because you don't expect an atom like argon, a noble gas, to form molecules, and you wouldn't expect to find them in the harsh environment of a supernova remnant," said Barlow.
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