Complex Organic Matter Exists Throughout the Universe

Astronomers report in the journal Nature that organic compounds of unexpected complexity exist throughout the Universe. The results suggest that complex organic compounds are not the sole domain of life but can be made naturally by stars.

Did a search here and was surprised this is not being discussed.
The discovery of complex organic compounds common in the Orion Nebula and throughout the Universe, is just amazing.
First we hear of stars seeding the Universe with water.
link

Now it is found stars are also producing this complex organic matter, and ejecting it into interstellar space!
My first thoughts are, life must be teeming in the Universe! my second thoughts are. Have these organic compounds played any role in the development of life on Earth?
Who knows why this is happening and what for, but one things for sure these are exciting times of discovery and it just keeps getting better and better.
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A spectrum from the Infrared Space Observatory superimposed on an image of the Orion Nebula where these complex organics are found. (Credit: Image courtesy of The University of Hong Kong / Background: Hubble image courtesy of NASA, C.R. O'Dell and S.K. Wong (Rice University))

reply to post by flyingfish


This has been a presumption of mine for a long time.

Ive been slowly working on a thread about this, but it is my belief that life, or its basic precursors originated from space.

Its almost as if life was inevitable, which brings in some very interesting questions

Oh wow this is absolutely INCREDIBLE! I would love to see what there is that could be developing out there...

reply to post by flyingfish


That's very cool. It's interesting that in religion creationists believe that we more or less came from the heavens themselves, and now we're finding out stars may have a role in it. Very neat!

reply to post by VonDoomen


That sounds awesome, I will be looking for your thread
The origins of life has always fascinated me, who does not want to know, who, what ,where and why?
The thing is, every day we are getting closer to answering some of these heavy questions. I just hope I live long enough to see the discovery of alien life.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


It has been obvious for me that we are created from the Universe, It's process is what intrigues me.
It is possible that some higher power has set this Universe into action, but I find it impossible to just insert god into any of our knowledge gaps.

This just means that biological life on planets is probably more common that actually believed, although it was thought to be a relatively common occurrence throughout the universe. I have always been a believer that life could thrive in environments very different from Earth.

Organisms could evolve to breathe CO2 or some other gas that is deadly to human life. They could also utilize different compounds to support their existence than humans do here on Earth. For example, there could be organisms that have evolved on other planets that are so different from any life on Earth, that we would promptly change our view on what is a "habitable" planet. Even extreme temperature differences on planets in the universe may not be an obstacle to life, which is surprising scientists all the time, therefore, as I mentioned, life could be much more common than previously thought.

What this life will look like is another story. Microbial life is probably present in our own solar system, but animal life could even have existed on planets like Mars in the distant past, since Mars probably once had an atmosphere conducive to life. I do not think however that an atmosphere is necessary to support life, although to support larger life forms it would definitely make nature's job easier.

If you have ever studied chemistry, you will know what an "Organic compound" is. It is a molecule that consists of Carbon, Hydrogen, and anything else. So why would it be strange to find organic compounds in outer space????

A complex organic molecule is simply a chain of those simpler organic compounds. It doesn't mean that it was formed by life...

reply to post by Hellhound604

If you have ever studied chemistry, you will know what an "Organic compound" is. It is a molecule that consists of Carbon, Hydrogen, and anything else. So why would it be strange to find organic compounds in outer space????

Is it strange to find organic compounds in space? No. Is it strange to find organic compounds of the complexity described? Based on our previous understanding, yes.

A complex organic molecule is simply a chain of those simpler organic compounds. It doesn't mean that it was formed by life...

I think you're understanding of the OP is backwards. There's no claim that these compounds came from preexisting life. The suggestion is that if these more complex molecules are relatively common and if these are the molecules that sparked the first life on our planet (in contrast to the current hypotheses of terrestrial abiogenesis), then life may be more common elsewhere than we had previously imagined.

reply to post by flyingfish

After being exposed to the concept of panspermia and doing some reading on it over the last year or two, I'm becoming more convinced that it's a viable pathway to abiogenesis and a viable alternative to terrestrial formation of similar compounds. I'm not sure how much more or less likely it is than the refinements of the Miller-Urey experiments that have been carried out over the last half century or how much more or less likely it is than some of the recent views of chemiosmotic mechanisms in hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, but it seems to be a perfectly viable pathway in light of recent evidence.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I truly believe that abiogenesis will be solved in my lifetime and, instead of arguing over whether abiogenesis can or did occur, we'll be arguing over what the specific pathway was.

The compounds are so complex that their chemical structures resemble those of coal and petroleum. Since coal and oil are remnants of ancient life, this type of organic matter was thought to arise only from living organisms.

same source article of OP

You have to redefine the long accepted traces of life that you might expect to see in a spectrum in order to claim that these molecules are not being formed by living organisms.

sorry, I guess I understood the OP wrong. I am a firm believer of abiosis, and for me it was always logical that organic molecules (even very complex ones) would exist in space, so it came as no big surprise to me, lol ....

reply to post by iterationzero

This is pure speculation on my part, but I truly believe that abiogenesis will be solved in my lifetime and, instead of arguing over whether abiogenesis can or did occur, we'll be arguing over what the specific pathway was.

Thanks for posting.
I believe that abiogenesis will be proven as the way things got started here on earth, every day the blanks are being filled, exciting times indeed

Originally posted by iforget

The compounds are so complex that their chemical structures resemble those of coal and petroleum. Since coal and oil are remnants of ancient life, this type of organic matter was thought to arise only from living organisms.

same source article of OP

You have to redefine the long accepted traces of life that you might expect to see in a spectrum in order to claim that these molecules are not being formed by living organisms.

Are you suggesting these structures may be from living organisms?

Originally posted by Hellhound604
sorry, I guess I understood the OP wrong. I am a firm believer of abiosis, and for me it was always logical that organic molecules (even very complex ones) would exist in space, so it came as no big surprise to me, lol ....

No need to apologize, I wasn't sure where you were coming from, but then again I confuse myself at times

Explanation: S&F!

Amazing!

Personal Disclosure: Could these chemical signatures be the result of a ancient galactic cilivization that blew itself up leaving traces of its biological nature behind in its wake?

Maybe thats why aliens are here .. its not the gold or the water .. its the fossil fuels!

Maybe thats why TPTB are so desparate to use them all up ... to just get the freaky spooky ET's off our backs once and for all?

This thread made me think deeply and seriously on stuff I had not taken seriously before and I thank the OP very much for bringing this to my attention!

Originally posted by flyingfish


Are you suggesting these structures may be from living organisms?

Yes because they say that these complex organic molecules are likely widespread throughout the Universe. I could speculate that in some instances elsewhere in the Universe the molecules could be produced by life as they are here on Earth. I could speculate that it would be entirely Earth Centric to argue that any other complex organic molecules in the Universe must be produced by something other than life.

Stars are the imput systems, mirrors, crystalline,and they contain all the elements and are parents to the solar systems. The true light streams in from Beyond, and this is a holographic interactive school with different grades.

Originally posted by Unity_99
Stars are the imput systems, mirrors, crystalline,and they contain all the elements and are parents to the solar systems. The true light streams in from Beyond, and this is a holographic interactive school with different grades.

I will buy the sun as being a parent to the solar system, but mirrors, crystalline?
As I have understood our star is a glowing sphere of hot gas comprised of hydrogen, helium and some 1.5% carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and other small amounts of elements.
The rest- I have not a clue as to what your talking about could you explain?

reply to post by flyingfish

post by flyingfish
Have these organic compounds played any role in the development of life on Earth?

Yes they played a pivotal role in my view , its a sperm and egg situation with the earth , or indeed any suitable planet as the egg .
The theory has existed for a while , maybe this is confirmation .