AstroTalk Episode April 18, 2019

Universe's First Molecule Found, Hydrocarban Cycle, Titan. A New Signal for a Neutron Star Colliision

2:03pm - 2:57pm

Universe's first molecule, helium huydride, has been found in the planetary nebula NGC 7027, 3,000 light years away. The observatory SOFIA made the discovery. 100,000 years after the Big Band, helium and huydrogen combined to form helium hydride. this is the first time it has been detected. Cassini reveals that the small liquid lakes on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, are surprisingly large. Ethane and methane are gases on earth, but on Titan, they exist in the liquid state. These liquids therefore rain down onto Titan. Tiitan has a hydrocarbon cycle, where on Earth, we have a water cycle. A new signal for a neutron star collision.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-universe-s-first-type-of-molecule-is-found-at-last
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4635
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/images/a-new-signal-for-a-neutron-star-collision-discovered.html




3,000 light-years away near the constellation Cygnus, this planetary nebula, called