Australian graduate student Linda Lozurdo recreated in the laboratory the chemical processes occurring in dying stars. The result was astonishing: complex organic molecules that could have become the "seeds" of life on our planet were detected in artificial stardust.

How the experiment was conducted

Researchers from the University of Sydney evacuated air from glass tubes, filled them with a mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and acetylene, and applied a high voltage — about 10,000 volts. The resulting glow discharge simulated the plasma conditions near aging stars and supernova remnants.

Carbonaceous dust particles settled on silicon substrates inside the tubes. Spectral analysis showed that these particles contain complex molecules consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen — so-called CHON molecules. These are exactly the building blocks of many organic substances essential for living organisms.

The infrared "fingerprints" of the laboratory dust perfectly matched the signals of real cosmic matter observed in space.

Why this matters

About 4.56 billion years ago, the young Earth was subjected to intense bombardment by meteorites and comets. According to one leading theory, it was precisely these bodies that delivered to the planet the organic compounds that became the foundation for the emergence of life.

Now scientists don't have to wait for another asteroid to fall. The chemistry of cosmic material can be studied directly in the laboratory by reproducing the conditions of stellar "nurseries" and the shells of dying stars.

What's next

The team plans to create an extensive database of infrared spectra of various types of laboratory dust. Astronomers will be able to compare these data with observations of real star-forming regions and obtain a more accurate picture of the chemical evolution of the Universe — and perhaps trace the routes by which the molecules of life reached Earth.

In brief

University of Sydney graduate student Linda Lozurdo reproduced the chemistry of dying stars in laboratory conditions and detected complex CHON molecules in artificial dust — key components of organic chemistry. The experiment accurately reproduced the spectral fingerprints of real cosmic matter. This discovery helps to understand how organic molecules could have arrived on the young Earth and become the foundation for the emergence of life. The work was published in The Astrophysical Journal.