Source: ESA/Herschel and NASA/Herschel
Herschel found oxygen molecules in the Orion nebula.
Image credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech.
ESA’s Herschel space observatory has found molecules of oxygen in a nearby star-forming cloud. This is the first undisputed detection of oxygen molecules in space. It concludes a long search but also leaves questions unanswered.
The oxygen molecules have been found in the nearby Orion star-forming complex. While atomic oxygen has been long known in warm regions of space, previous missions looking for the molecular variety – two atoms of oxygen bonded together – came up largely empty-handed.(read more)
