British Scientists Finding Subtle Signatures of Past Cosmic Violence
An aromatic hydrocarbon found in meteorites, dimethylnaphthalene, is offering researchers signatures of far flung violent events in the universe, ranging from stellar explosions to random impacts between materials thrown into the cosmos by the detonations, according to British researchers.
Dimethylnaphthalene appears sensitive even to the heat and pressures of near misses between comets and meteorites containing the organic substance.
The work carried out by researchers from the Imperial College London offers scientists a potential tool for determining more than just how meteorites were affected by heat, allowing them to develop a more comprehensive analysis of organic materials.
The Andromeda Galaxy, neighbor to the Milky Way. Image Credit: NASA
"The ability to detect high pressure environments in space has tremendous implications for our ability to learn more about the formation of our solar system and the universe," according to a statement from Wren Montgomery, an Imperial College researcher and coauthor of a study on the findings published April 1 in the Astrophysical Journal. "Dimethylnaphthalenes are like microscopic barometers and thermometers recording changes in pressure and heat as they travel through space. Understanding these changes lets us probe their history, and with that, the history of the galaxy."
Wren and her colleagues carried out the work at the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland and SOLEIL Synchrotron in France by subjecting small samples of dimethynaphthalene to the vice-like grip of anvils made from high quality diamonds to simulate space-like pressures. The pressures produced detectable alterations in the molecular structure of the dimethylnapthalene samples.
The Imperial College team intends to expand their work by looking at the response of other hydrocarbons found in meteorites to similar pressure exposures. The goal is to build up a catalogue useful to scientists in the field in recognizing signature pressure ranges and events. Combined with evaluations of the mineralogy and chemistry in space rocks, planetary geologists could point to the kinds of violent events they experienced during their long journeys to Earth.
Potentially, the combination of techniques could be used in instruments aboard planetary rovers like those on Mars to determine thermal signatures in aromatic hydrocarbons linked to ancient organisms, say the British scientists.
Artist's illustration of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. Image Credit: NASA
“We now have another instrument to add to our celestial toolbox, which will help us to learn more about high pressure environments in space," said study co-author Mark Sephton, also from the Imperial College. "Massive heat and pressure waves arcing out through space from cataclysmic events leave an indelible record in these cosmic barometers. It is really exciting to know that we now have a technique at our disposal that will help to reveal pivotal moments in the universe's history."