Spitzer Finds Life Components in Young Universe

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Gay Yee Hill (818) 354-0344
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

News Release: 2005-123 July 28, 2005

Spitzer Finds Life Components in Young Universe

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found the
ingredients for life all the way back to a time
when the universe was a mere youngster.

Using Spitzer, scientists have detected organic
molecules in galaxies when our universe was one-
fourth of its current age of about 14 billion years.
These large molecules, known as polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons, are comprised of carbon and
hydrogen. The molecules are considered to be among
the building blocks of life.

These complex molecules are very common on Earth.
They form any time carbon-based materials are not
burned completely. They can be found in sooty
exhaust from cars and airplanes, and in charcoal
broiled hamburgers and burnt toast.

The molecules, pervasive in galaxies like our own
Milky Way, play a significant role in star and
planet formation. Spitzer is the first telescope to
see these molecules so far back in time.

"This is 10 billion years further back in time than
we've seen them before," said Dr. Lin Yan of the
Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. Yan is lead author
of a study to be published in the August 10 issue of
the Astrophysical Journal.

Previous missions -- the Infrared Astronomical
Satellite and the Infrared Space Observatory --
detected these types of galaxies and molecules much
closer to our own Milky Way galaxy.

Spitzer's sensitivity is 100 times greater than
these previous infrared telescope missions, enabling
direct detection of organics so far away.

Since Earth is approximately four-and-a-half billion
years old, these organic materials existed in the
universe well before our planet and solar system were
formed and may have even been the seeds of our solar
system.

Spitzer found the organic compounds in galaxies where
intense star formation had taken place over a short
period of time. These "flash in the pan" starburst
galaxies are nearly invisible in optical images because
they are very far away and contain large quantities of
light-absorbing dust. But the same dust glows brightly
in infrared light and is easily spotted by Spitzer.

Spitzer's infrared spectrometer split the galaxies'
infrared light into distinct features that revealed
the presence of organic components. These organic
features gave scientists a milepost to gauge the
distance of these galaxies. This is the first time
scientists have been able to measure a distance as
great as 10-billion light years away using the
spectral fingerprints of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons.

"These complex compounds tell us that by the time we
see these galaxies, several generations of stars have
already been formed," said Dr. George Helou of the
Spitzer Science Center, a co-author of the study.
"Planets and life had very early opportunities to
emerge in the universe."

Other co-authors include Ranga-Ram Chary, Lee Armus,
Harry Tepliz, David Frayer, Dario Fadda, Jason Surace,
and Philip Choi, all of the Spitzer Science Center.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Spitzer
Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington. Science operations are
conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech.
Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Spitzer's infrared
spectrograph was built by Cornell University, Ithaca,
N.Y. Its development was led by Dr. Jim Houck of Cornell.
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite was a joint
scientific project sponsored by the United States,
the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The Infrared
Space Observatory was a European Space Agency mission
with Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical
Science and NASA.

For information on the Spitzer Space Telescope visit:

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media .

For more information on NASA missions and programs
visit:

www.nasa.gov .

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