Water is essential to our understanding of the planet-formation process and habitability on Earth.
Isoprene and its oligomers, terpenes, are expected to be present, along with other complex organic molecules, in the diverse environments of the ISM and in our solar system.
![PAH fraction anti-correlates with log([S iii]/[S ii]) (ionization parameter tracer) for thousands H ii regions in 42 PHANGS-JWST galaxies. Panel (a, b) shows all ∼ 17200 analyzed H ii regions, while ∼ 5600 brightest “resolved” H ii regions are shown on Panels (c, d). The dashed red line shows the best-fit linear regression to the “resolved” sample defined by Eq. 4. Histograms on panels (b, d) show how the logarithmic residuals after subtracting this linear trend depend on metallicity. Color on panels (a, c) denotes gas-phase oxygen abundance; red contours show the probability density of the high-metallicity (12 + log(O/H) > 8.2) points (levels correspond to 50, 65, 80, 95 and 99 percentile intervals). The Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) and RMS scatter around the linear fit are reported on panels (a, c). -- astro-ph.GA](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons-destruction.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread in the interstellar medium (ISM) of Solar metallicity galaxies, where they play a critical role in ISM heating, cooling, and reprocessing stellar radiation.
Methylformate (MF) and glycolaldehyde (GA) are two primogenital organic molecules detected in both cold and warm regions of the interstellar medium (ISM).
Lyman-α (Lyα) is the most prominent ultraviolet emission line in low-mass stars, playing a crucial role in exoplanet atmospheric photochemistry, heating, and escape.
Study of interstellar elemental depletion poses an important problem in the interstellar matter that at least a quarter of the total oxygen (∼160 ppm relative to hydrogen) is not accounted […]
Amino acids and amide bonds (−C(O)−NH−) are the essential components of proteins, which serve as the foundation of life on Earth. As a result, molecules containing peptide bonds are of […]
Prestellar cores represent early sites of low-mass (M ≤ few M⊙) star and planet formation and provide insight into initial chemical conditions of complex organic molecules (COMs).
Interstellar ices play a fundamental role in the physical and chemical evolution of molecular clouds and star-forming regions, yet their large-scale distribution and abundance remain challenging to map.
An international team of scientists have provided an unprecedented tally of elemental sulfur spread between the stars using data from the Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft.
