A PhD student in Sydney has created cosmic dust in a laboratory, according to ScienceDaily, by simulating conditions similar to those found near stars and supernova remnants.
Linda Losurdo, a materials and plasma physics PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, mixed nitrogen, carbon dioxide and acetylene before exposing the gases to a strong electrical charge. The result was carbon-rich dust with chemical features similar to material found in interstellar space and inside comets, asteroids and meteorites.
The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, found that the lab-made dust contained complex combinations of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, known as CHON molecules. Those elements are common in many organic substances considered important to life.
Losurdo and her supervisor, Professor David McKenzie, said the experiment helps researchers study cosmic dust without waiting for samples to arrive on Earth. The team plans to build a database of infrared fingerprints that could help astronomers compare laboratory dust with observations of star-forming regions and the remains of dead stars.
The researchers say that could also help scientists better understand the history recorded in meteorites and asteroid fragments, and may offer new clues about the chemical steps that contributed to the emergence of life on Earth.
