https://www.sci.news/space/asteroid-polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons-12559.html
Astronomical observations show that polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant and
widespread in the interstellar medium. PAH
molecules consist of several adjacent aromatic
rings terminated by hydrogens. In new research,
scientists performed laboratory isotopic
analysis of PAHs in samples of the asteroid
Ryugu that were collected by JAXA’s Hayabusa-2
spacecraft as well as in samples of the
meteorite Murchison. They argue that at least
some of the Ryugu PAHs must have formed in
cold interstellar clouds and thus predate the
Solar System.
PAHs contain approximately 20% of the carbon
in the interstellar medium.
They are potentially produced in circumstellar
environments (at temperatures over 1000 K), by
cold interstellar clouds (temperatures around
10 K), or by processing of carbon-rich dust
grains.
“PAHs are organic compounds made up of carbon
and hydrogen that are common on Earth but are
also found in celestial bodies like asteroids
and meteorites,” said study co-author Professor
Kliti Grice, a researcher with the Western
Australia Organic & Isotope Geochemistry
Centre at Curtin University.
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