Organic Matter Found in Planet-Forming Disk

The Carnegie Institution for Science (in Washington, not CIT at CMU) reports Red Dust in Planet-Forming Disk May Harbor Precursors to Life. "Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR 4796A, is inferred to be in the late stages of planet formation, suggesting that the basic building blocks of life may be common in planetary systems.

 "Tholins do not form naturally on present-day Earth because oxygen in the atmosphere would quickly destroy them, but they are hypothesized to have existed on the primitive Earth billions of years ago and may have been precursors to the biomolecules that make up living organisms. Tholins have been detected elsewhere in the solar system, such as in comets and on Saturn’s moon Titan, where they give the atmosphere a red tinge. This study is the first report of tholins outside the solar system."