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Methyl cation (CH3+) detected for the first time in space

27 June 2023

Using data provided by the James Webb Space Telescope, an international scientific team, including five researchers from Paris Observatory - PSL, has detected for the first time a molecule known as the methyl cation (CH3+) in a protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star. The findings appear in the June 26, 2023 issue of Nature.

An image made of three panels. The largest on the left shows the NIRCam image of a nebula with two bright stars. A skewed box in the top-right points to a second panel on the right, with a MIRI image of that area. A tiny box in the centre of that panel is blown up in a third panel below, with a zoomed-in, combined MIRI and NIRCam image of a yellow and orange blob.
© ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), the PDRs4All ERS Team

The scientists achieved this feat thanks to an analysis that drew on multi-disciplinary expertise, and included key contributions from laboratory spectroscopists.

The methyl cation (CH3+) is a simple molecule with a unique property: it reacts relatively inefficiently with the most abundant element in our universe (hydrogen), but reacts readily with other molecules and thus initiates the growth of more complex carbon-based molecules. Carbon chemistry is of particular interest to astronomers, as all known forms of life are based on carbon.

The vital role of CH3+ in interstellar carbon chemistry was predicted in the 1970s, but it was the unique capabilities of the NASA/ESA/CSA Webb Telescope that finally made it possible to observe it, a fortiori in a region of space where planets capable of supporting life could eventually form.

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Research contacts Observatoire de Paris - PSL :

  • Evelyne Roueff
  • Maryvonne Gerin
  • Émeric Bron
  • David Languignon
  • Raphaël Meshaka
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