Astronomers have discovered high amounts of the amino acid tryptophan in interstellar material located near the solar system’s star forming region. Tryptophan is one of the 20 amino acids involved in the formation of proteins essential for life on Earth. The unique spectral lines of this amino acid were found in infrared data collected by the now defunct Spitzer Space Telescope in the IC348 star forming region. The discovery may suggest that amino acids involved in the formation of proteins, often found in meteorites, may be retained in gas and dust, where planets are then formed in young star systems.

Evidence for the presence of tryptophan in the Perseus Molecular Cloud will facilitate new searches for amino acids in this region and other star-forming regions, according to representatives of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). Whether the building blocks of proteins are widely represented in the gas from which stars and planets form is extremely important. This could be the key to understanding possible life-forming mechanisms on exoplanets. IC348 is part of the Perseus Molecular Cloud, a giant cluster of gas and dust whose mass is equivalent to 10,000 solar masses. By cosmic standards, the IC348 cluster is quite young – only 2-3 million years old.

Located just 1,000 light-years from Earth, IC348 is one of the closest regions of star formation and, apparently, astronomical instruments in the infrared range, including the distinctive “signatures” of tryptophan. The amino acid identified according to the available data has a temperature of about 7 degrees Celsius.

Scientists have previously used Spitzer and spectroscopy to identify other important “prebiotics” in the IC348 system. Even in 2019, complex carbon compounds — “carbon-60” or “fullerenes” — have been discovered in the region that could serve as building blocks for the construction of key molecules that would one day allow life to form. Earlier this year, an entire “soup” of compounds was discovered here, containing molecules of hydrogen, water, carbon dioxide, hydroxyl groups, as well as ammonia and carbon-based compounds. IC348 is believed to be very rich in molecular compounds. The big news is that these molecules are found in the diffuse gas where stars and protoplanetary disks form. In other words, young planets in the process of formation may be essential components,

One way or another, molecules already on the surface of the planet may participate in the chemical processes that lead to the formation of proteins and that one day lead to the emergence of life. Now the scientists plan to supplement the work with observations using the James Webb telescope, which will allow to obtain more detailed information about this and other star forming regions. Source