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Scientists using the Spitzer Space Telescope have spotted organic material and water vapor swirling around a young star (artist’s conception, above). The star, AA Turi, is less than a million years old — a baby in celestial terms. It is one of several young stars surrounded by disks containing similar materials.

The orbiting Spitzer is the last in the Great Observatory family, which includes Hubble.

Spitzer Finds Organics and Water Where New Planets May Grow
With their new procedures, they were able to detect the minute spectral signatures for three simple organic molecules–hydrogen cyanide, acetylene and carbon dioxide–plus water vapor. In addition, they found more of these substances in the disk than are found in the dense interstellar gas called molecular clouds from which the disk originated. “Molecular clouds provide the raw material from which the protoplanetary disks are created,” said Carr. “So this is evidence for an active organic chemistry going on within the disk, forming and enhancing these molecules.”