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

Published June 27, 2023

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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