An international team of scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as the methyl cation (CH3+), the molecule is important because it helps form more complex carbon-based molecules. It was detected in a young star system, known as d203-506, located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.

Carbon compounds are the foundations of all known life and are therefore of particular interest to scientists working to understand both how life developed on Earth and how it might potentially develop elsewhere in our universe. The study of interstellar organic (carbon-containing) chemistry, which Webb opens up in new ways, is an area of ​​intense interest to many astronomers.

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Webb’s unique capabilities made it an ideal observational tool in the search for this crucial molecule. Webb’s excellent spatial and spectral resolution, as well as his sensitivity, contributed to the team’s success. In particular, Webb’s detection of a series of key emission lines from CH3+ cemented the discovery.

“This detection not only validates Webb’s incredible sensitivity, but also confirms the presumed central importance of CH3+ in interstellar chemistry,” said Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel of the University of Paris-Saclay in France, a member of the scientific team. While the star in d203-506 is a small red dwarf, the system is bombarded with strong ultraviolet (UV) light from nearby hot, young, massive stars.

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Typically, UV radiation is expected to destroy complex organic molecules, so the discovery of CH3+ may seem surprising. However, the team predicts that UV radiation may actually provide the necessary energy source to form CH3+ in the first place. Once formed, additional chemical reactions then take place to create more complex carbon molecules.