Phosphorus plays an crucial role in planetary formation and in biology , but it is not the well-situated to get around our galaxy . All of the detections that have been reported so far focus on the inside part of the Milky Way or in the neighborhood of the Sun . Now , astronomers cover the detection ofphosphorus - bearing moleculesin a dense gas cloud almost 74,000 idle - eld from the center of our extragalactic nebula .
That ’s almost three time as far from the center as the Earth is . Gas cloud WB89 - 621 has phosphorus oxide and phosphorus mononitride in similar abundance to what has been find in the Solar System , around it , and in the inside galaxy .
This detection gainsay the traditional view of the line of phosphorus . Elements up to iron are created in massive principal and as they maturate , they can spread those elements through loss of layers or insupernovaeexplosions . The formation of Lucifer is believed to happen when silicon particle in monumental stars assimilate neutrons in their nuclei – leading to the transmutation of silicon into phosphorus . This is one of the many examples of stellar nucleosynthesis that go on inside stars .
The monumental stars then explode into supernovae , spreading all these element far and wide . This can explain the abundance of phosphorus seen in the inner component part of the galaxy , where these supernovae are plebeian . But what about the less populated suburbia of theMilky Way ? How did the phosphorus get there ?
Possibilities that the squad dismiss were fountains of fabric from the inner galaxy to the outskirt . Material is hot up and push beyond the magnetic disk by the supernova and then rain back down as it cools over eons – but the clouds produced by the cooling gas pedal are nowhere to be ensure at the galax ’s edge .
Another discounted possibility is that the phosphorus was slip by the Milky Way from one of the other companion galaxies , such as theMagellanic Clouds . However , they are misfortunate in heavier elements than our own wandflower , so this does n’t operate . The team suggested that phosphorus might be produced in other less monumental stars that still release constituent over time but not by go supernova .
“ The root of morning star in the Outer Galaxy may be alternative routes in leading nucleosynthesis . Because of the failure of the galactic chemical evolution models , it has been need that non - explosive massive stars or thermal - pulsing asymptotic jumbo offset stars ( AGB ) star may be potential sources of this factor , ” the author wrote in the paper .
The squad suggests that depth psychology of the chemical writing found at the edge of our and other galaxies might lead to a better understanding of where elements issue forth from and where they go . If the building blocks of planet and life are line up throughout the galaxy , we could be expecting a mickle more earth out there .
The study is published inNature .
