![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/B7M2RF_preview-1024x700.jpg\")
You have identified organic molecules in protoplanetary discs circling newly formed stars. Where are these discs?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThese discs are located between about 300 to 500 lightyears from Earth, so we are actually seeing the discs as they appeared 300 to 500 years ago. The regions in which these discs exist are some of the closest star-forming regions to our Solar System, which means we can get an excellent view of them. <\/p>\n\n
How did you identify organic molecules from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) data?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nCompared to previous instruments, ALMA has hugely increased our observational capability. It combines extremely high sensitivity with a high spatial resolution. This means we can detect faint emission on small scales, which was essential for our study. We searched for the unique \u2018fingerprints\u2019 of these molecules in the ALMA data, which were very faint, but thanks to the data\u2019s exceptional quality we were able to detect their emission. <\/p>\n\n
Were these findings surprising?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThese molecules have been detected in protoplanetary discs before, but the fact that we\u2019ve been able to get such improved observations means the abundance of these molecules is much higher than previously thought. Additionally, they\u2019re located in the \u2018inner\u2019 disc regions, within about 50 astronomical units, which is approximately the same scale as our Solar System. This means we are finding significant amounts of prebiotic materials (which form the building blocks of life) on similar scales to a planetary system like our own. <\/p>\n\n
How close are we to understanding what physical and chemical conditions result in planet formation around new stars?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThe findings suggest that the chemical composition of discs that appear to be forming planets is similar to the composition of our own Solar System. However, we don\u2019t know if this is required to form planets. To investigate this we\u2019d need to study the composition of a much larger and statistically significant sample of protoplanetary discs. This is something that ALMA will be able to do in the near future.<\/p>\n\n
Can these complex organic molecules be found only in protoplanetary discs?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nComplex organic molecules are found in various environments throughout space, such as the giant clouds of gas and dust that will eventually go on to form stars. Studies have suggested that molecules such as these are the \u2018raw ingredients\u2019 for building molecules that are essential components in biological chemistry on Earth \u2013 including things like sugars and the bases of ribonucleic acid (RNA). However, many of the environments where we find these complex organic molecules are pretty far removed from where we think planets form. We wanted to understand more about where and how much of these molecules were present in the birthplaces of planets \u2013 protoplanetary discs. <\/p>\n\n
Does the presence of such molecules suggest that a formed planet might eventually have environments that could create and sustain life?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWhile we can\u2019t say that for certain, the take-home message is that we find these \u2018prebiotic\u2019 molecules in large abundances, and at distances from their parent star that are similar in size to our Solar System. So that suggests the raw ingredients for life are plentiful in the disc of material that forms planets. <\/p>\n\n
How do the protoplanetary discs tell you about the history of our Solar System\u2019s formation?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThree of the discs in our sample are around T Tauri stars, which are younger versions of stars that are similar to our Sun. These three objects represent a young stellar evolutionary stage that may go on to form a planetary system similar to our own. <\/p>\n\n
What are the next steps for your research?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWe want to know how the molecules got there. Had they been formed in <\/em>situ <\/em>by chemical reactions in the disc? Or have they been inherited from the earlier star-forming phase when the disc was assembled from a large cloud of gas and dust? Answering these questions would be one of our next steps. <\/p>\n\n
\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/QAJohnIlee.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\nDr John Ilee is an astrophysicist studying star and planet formation at the University of Leeds.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\n\nAn interview with Dr John Ilee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"98","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"98","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"An interview with Dr John Ilee","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40426"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40946,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions\/40946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Compared to previous instruments, ALMA has hugely increased our observational capability. It combines extremely high sensitivity with a high spatial resolution. This means we can detect faint emission on small scales, which was essential for our study. We searched for the unique \u2018fingerprints\u2019 of these molecules in the ALMA data, which were very faint, but thanks to the data\u2019s exceptional quality we were able to detect their emission. <\/p>\n\n
Were these findings surprising?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThese molecules have been detected in protoplanetary discs before, but the fact that we\u2019ve been able to get such improved observations means the abundance of these molecules is much higher than previously thought. Additionally, they\u2019re located in the \u2018inner\u2019 disc regions, within about 50 astronomical units, which is approximately the same scale as our Solar System. This means we are finding significant amounts of prebiotic materials (which form the building blocks of life) on similar scales to a planetary system like our own. <\/p>\n\n
How close are we to understanding what physical and chemical conditions result in planet formation around new stars?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThe findings suggest that the chemical composition of discs that appear to be forming planets is similar to the composition of our own Solar System. However, we don\u2019t know if this is required to form planets. To investigate this we\u2019d need to study the composition of a much larger and statistically significant sample of protoplanetary discs. This is something that ALMA will be able to do in the near future.<\/p>\n\n
Can these complex organic molecules be found only in protoplanetary discs?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nComplex organic molecules are found in various environments throughout space, such as the giant clouds of gas and dust that will eventually go on to form stars. Studies have suggested that molecules such as these are the \u2018raw ingredients\u2019 for building molecules that are essential components in biological chemistry on Earth \u2013 including things like sugars and the bases of ribonucleic acid (RNA). However, many of the environments where we find these complex organic molecules are pretty far removed from where we think planets form. We wanted to understand more about where and how much of these molecules were present in the birthplaces of planets \u2013 protoplanetary discs. <\/p>\n\n
Does the presence of such molecules suggest that a formed planet might eventually have environments that could create and sustain life?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWhile we can\u2019t say that for certain, the take-home message is that we find these \u2018prebiotic\u2019 molecules in large abundances, and at distances from their parent star that are similar in size to our Solar System. So that suggests the raw ingredients for life are plentiful in the disc of material that forms planets. <\/p>\n\n
How do the protoplanetary discs tell you about the history of our Solar System\u2019s formation?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThree of the discs in our sample are around T Tauri stars, which are younger versions of stars that are similar to our Sun. These three objects represent a young stellar evolutionary stage that may go on to form a planetary system similar to our own. <\/p>\n\n
What are the next steps for your research?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWe want to know how the molecules got there. Had they been formed in <\/em>situ <\/em>by chemical reactions in the disc? Or have they been inherited from the earlier star-forming phase when the disc was assembled from a large cloud of gas and dust? Answering these questions would be one of our next steps. <\/p>\n\n
\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\nDr John Ilee is an astrophysicist studying star and planet formation at the University of Leeds.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\n\nAn interview with Dr John Ilee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"98","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"98","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"An interview with Dr John Ilee","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40426"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40946,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions\/40946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The findings suggest that the chemical composition of discs that appear to be forming planets is similar to the composition of our own Solar System. However, we don\u2019t know if this is required to form planets. To investigate this we\u2019d need to study the composition of a much larger and statistically significant sample of protoplanetary discs. This is something that ALMA will be able to do in the near future.<\/p>\n\n
Can these complex organic molecules be found only in protoplanetary discs?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nComplex organic molecules are found in various environments throughout space, such as the giant clouds of gas and dust that will eventually go on to form stars. Studies have suggested that molecules such as these are the \u2018raw ingredients\u2019 for building molecules that are essential components in biological chemistry on Earth \u2013 including things like sugars and the bases of ribonucleic acid (RNA). However, many of the environments where we find these complex organic molecules are pretty far removed from where we think planets form. We wanted to understand more about where and how much of these molecules were present in the birthplaces of planets \u2013 protoplanetary discs. <\/p>\n\n
Does the presence of such molecules suggest that a formed planet might eventually have environments that could create and sustain life?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWhile we can\u2019t say that for certain, the take-home message is that we find these \u2018prebiotic\u2019 molecules in large abundances, and at distances from their parent star that are similar in size to our Solar System. So that suggests the raw ingredients for life are plentiful in the disc of material that forms planets. <\/p>\n\n
How do the protoplanetary discs tell you about the history of our Solar System\u2019s formation?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThree of the discs in our sample are around T Tauri stars, which are younger versions of stars that are similar to our Sun. These three objects represent a young stellar evolutionary stage that may go on to form a planetary system similar to our own. <\/p>\n\n
What are the next steps for your research?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWe want to know how the molecules got there. Had they been formed in <\/em>situ <\/em>by chemical reactions in the disc? Or have they been inherited from the earlier star-forming phase when the disc was assembled from a large cloud of gas and dust? Answering these questions would be one of our next steps. <\/p>\n\n
\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\nDr John Ilee is an astrophysicist studying star and planet formation at the University of Leeds.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\n\nAn interview with Dr John Ilee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"98","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"98","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"An interview with Dr John Ilee","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40426"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40946,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions\/40946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
While we can\u2019t say that for certain, the take-home message is that we find these \u2018prebiotic\u2019 molecules in large abundances, and at distances from their parent star that are similar in size to our Solar System. So that suggests the raw ingredients for life are plentiful in the disc of material that forms planets. <\/p>\n\n
How do the protoplanetary discs tell you about the history of our Solar System\u2019s formation?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nThree of the discs in our sample are around T Tauri stars, which are younger versions of stars that are similar to our Sun. These three objects represent a young stellar evolutionary stage that may go on to form a planetary system similar to our own. <\/p>\n\n
What are the next steps for your research?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\nWe want to know how the molecules got there. Had they been formed in <\/em>situ <\/em>by chemical reactions in the disc? Or have they been inherited from the earlier star-forming phase when the disc was assembled from a large cloud of gas and dust? Answering these questions would be one of our next steps. <\/p>\n\n
\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\nDr John Ilee is an astrophysicist studying star and planet formation at the University of Leeds.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n
<\/div>\n\nAn interview with Dr John Ilee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"98","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"98","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"An interview with Dr John Ilee","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40426"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40946,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions\/40946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We want to know how the molecules got there. Had they been formed in <\/em>situ <\/em>by chemical reactions in the disc? Or have they been inherited from the earlier star-forming phase when the disc was assembled from a large cloud of gas and dust? Answering these questions would be one of our next steps. <\/p>\n\n Dr John Ilee is an astrophysicist studying star and planet formation at the University of Leeds.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n An interview with Dr John Ilee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"98","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"98","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_98-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"February-2023","purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"February-2023-98-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086561||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.213","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/01\/c7c4c533-985a-4879-9b4c-0f8c5c7f6985.jpg",1028,687,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"An interview with Dr John Ilee","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40426"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40946,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions\/40946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n