Scientists reveal key role of hydrogen in star formation

The work, which has been led by researchers from the Spanish Higher Scientific Research Council (CSIC), has important astrophysical applications, and the results have been obtained thanks to the ‘Stardust’ machine, a unique facility unique in the world that was designed to produce analogues of cosmic dust under controlled conditions; The conclusions of the research were published this Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“Cosmic dust is one of the fundamental ingredients of the universe,” explained José Ángel Martín-Gago, director of the Madrid Institute of Materials Science (ICMM-CSIC) and one of the main researchers of the study.

Although a priori it may seem like a minor component, “these tiny solid particles play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies, in the formation of stars and planets and in the chemistry of the interstellar medium,” said Gonzalo Santoro, lead author of the work and researcher at the Institute of Structure of Matter (IEM-CSIC).

Led by the Institute of Materials Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) and the Institute of Structure of Matter (IEM-CSIC), the work has had the participation of several CSIC centers (the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon, the Institute of Polymer Science and Technology and the Institute of Fundamental Physics), as well as the French institute IRAP-CNRS and the University of Toulouse.

The researchers proposed an approach that combines experimental astrochemistry, spectroscopy, electron microscopy and theoretical modeling, and have managed to reproduce in the laboratory some of the chemical conditions present in this type of star.

The most relevant result of this work is the demonstration of the role of hydrogen as a “promoter of the formation of silicon carbide grains.”Santoro indicated in a note released by the CSIC, and specified that the study has shown that when the density of molecular hydrogen is high, carbon and silicon interact much more than when there is no hydrogen, since it starts a chain of chemical reactions.

In addition to the astrophysical interest, the researchers highlighted that the work illustrates how laboratory astrochemistry allows connecting nanoscopic processes with large-scale cosmic phenomena, and they valued how the efficient combination of controlled experiments, advanced characterization techniques and theoretical modeling opens new avenues to understand how dust grains are formed that, millions of years later, end up forming part of planets, meteorites or even the matter that makes up the solar system.