Anton Vasyunin leads the research group and laboratory.
Photo Credit: UrFU press service
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary
The Core Concept: Researchers have definitively identified nitrous oxide (N₂O), commonly known as "laughing gas," within the solid ice mantles coating dust particles around young protostars.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike the gas phase of the interstellar medium—where over 300 molecules have been identified—molecules in the solid "ice" phase are notoriously difficult to detect and are only visible via infrared absorption spectra. N₂O is only the ninth molecule ever confirmed in this frozen state.
Origin/History:
- January 2026: Findings were reported by the Ural Federal University (UrFU) and published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
- Methodology: The discovery relied on observational data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which was interpreted using laboratory-generated spectra of ice analogues created at UrFU's ISEAge laboratory.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Infrared Spectroscopy: The primary method used to detect molecular signatures in solid ices, requiring background starlight to "illuminate" the absorption features.
- Protostars: The study analyzed 50 young stars, finding N₂O in 16 of them.
- Orion Molecular Cloud: A specific region where half of the positive detections were located, suggesting that high-intensity ultraviolet radiation aids in N₂O formation.
Branch of Science: Astrochemistry, Astrophysics.
Future Application: These findings improve models of chemical evolution in the universe, helping scientists understand how complex volatiles form and survive in the raw materials that eventually coalesce into planetary systems.
Why It Matters: This discovery indicates that nitrous oxide is relatively abundant in star-forming regions (found in nearly a third of surveyed targets), adding a critical piece to the puzzle of how prebiotic chemistry develops in the freezing vacuum of space before planets are born.
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| Images of protostars in the infrared range. Image Credit: UrFU Laboratory of Astrochemical Research |
Scientific team from UrFU Laboratory of Astrochemical Research has made a breakthrough discovery: they found “laughing gas” (Nitrous Oxide or N₂O) in Interstellar Ices. The study was published in the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal.
“We have found nitrous oxide in 16 out of the 50 protostars we analyzed. The N₂O content in these protostars varied between 0.2% and 2.1% relative to the ice, which consists of CO molecules. The detection of nitrous oxide in more than a dozen protostars indicates that this molecule is abundant in interstellar ice, and our research is the first reliable detection of icy nitrogen dioxide,” said Varvara Karteeva, Research Laboratory Assistant at UrFU Laboratory of Astrochemical Research.
More than 300 different molecules have been identified in the gas clouds that form stars and planets, ranging from simple organic compounds to more complex ones. Currently, only eight molecules have been identified in the solid phase of the interstellar medium, on interstellar dust particles that are covered with ice at low temperatures, forming “ice mantles”. N₂O has become the ninth to be discovered in this environment.
As the scientists explain, it is much more difficult to detect molecules in ice compared to gas, as in the solid phase the molecules are only visible in the infrared spectrum. This is because when there is a nearby star, it helps "illuminate" the area and make the molecules more visible.
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| A picture of the protostar in the dark cloud L1527, which was taken by the James Webb telescope. Photo Credit: NASA |
"We used the spectra of analogues of interstellar ices grown in our ISEAge laboratory to interpret the results obtained by the James Webb Telescope last year. Using these laboratory-grown spectra, we were able to analyze observations of interstellar clouds and confidently detect N₂O in the ice," explains Anton Vasyunin, Head of the Laboratory.
Eight out of the sixteen proto-stars, in which UrFU astrochemists discovered the N₂O molecule, are located in the Orion molecular cloud complex. Scientists believe that this may indicate an important role for ultraviolet radiation in the formation of nitrous oxide in interstellar ice, since the Orion complex region is characterized by a high intensity of ultraviolet background radiation. Scientists believe that this may indicate an important role for ultraviolet radiation in the formation of nitrous oxide in interstellar ice, since the Orion complex region is characterized by a high intensity of ultraviolet background radiation. However, the mechanisms of N₂O formation in interstellar ice are still under investigation and have not been fully understood yet.
Reference: A protostar is a very young star that is still gathering mass from its parent molecular cloud. It is a source of infrared radiation hidden within a gas and dust envelope, and it is the stage in the formation of a real star and a planetary system.
Interstellar ice consists of grains of volatiles in the ice phase that form in the interstellar medium. Ice and dust grains form the primary material out of which the Solar System was formed.
Published in journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics journal
Title: Identification of solid N₂O in interstellar ices using open JWST data
Authors: V. Karteyeva, R. Nakibov, I. Petrashkevich, M. Medvedev, and A. Vasyunin
Source/Credit: Ural Federal University | Anastasia Pyankova
Reference Number: asph012426_01
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