Scientists Recreate the Universe’s First Molecules — Unveiling Surprising Clues About the Early Cosmos

For some scientists, it is a first in history that they have replicated the universe’s earliest molecules by imitating the conditions of the early universe.

This discovery turns upside down the understanding we had about the formation of stars in the ancient universe and “proposes a revision of the helium chemistry in the early universe,” the scientists pointed out in their work published on July 24 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The newly formed universe was very hot just after the Big Bang that happened about 13.8 billion years ago. But only a few seconds later, the universe had cooled enough for hydrogen and helium to become the first elements. Hundreds of thousands of years later, as the temperature was even lower, those atoms of elements started combining with the electrons in various different configurations, thus creating molecules.

In the opinion of the scientists, the first molecule was

Thus, these ions together with helium hydride ions and molecular hydrogen played an important role in the formation of first stars the timescale of which is measured in hundreds of millions of years later, according to the scientists.

If a protostar wants to start fusion — the process which gives stars their energy — then atoms and molecules in it have to collide and therefore, heat is released. This is the main way that such process takes place at temperatures roughly below 18,000 degrees F (10,000 degrees C).

On the other hand, helium hydride ions are exceptionally efficient at carrying on the process even in cold conditions, and hence they are considered to be one of the most vital sources of energy in star formation in the early universe.

The research team has further suggested in a statement that the amount of helium hydride ions possibly present in the universe could directly relate to the capacity of early star formation and the pace of it.

Far more important than previously assumed

Recently, to recreate early helium hydride reactions, scientists cooled ions down by storing them in a temperature of -449 degrees Fahrenheit (-267 degrees Celsius) for up to 60 seconds and then they forced them to collide with heavy hydrogen. The team observed how the impacts — similar to the ones that lead to a star’s fusion — altered according to the particle’s temperature.

They observed that the reaction speed between the particles was not going to be reduced at cold temperatures which is totally opposite to the old suppositions.

“Past models indicate a steep drop of the reaction chance at extreme lows, however, we have not found this either in the experiment or in our new calculations,” asserted Holger Kreckel, a co-author of the study.

The novel discovery of the new role of helium hydride ions provokes a rethinking of star formation in the early universe by astrophysicists. Ion interactions with other atomic species “seem to have been much more significant for the chemistry of the early universe than we thought before,” Kreckel declared.

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