August 3, 2011 - NASA reports say that scientists at the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory have discovered oxygen molecules in space.
The molecular oxygen has been found within the deep space of the Orion nebula region, about 1,500 light years away from Earth.
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While single oxygen atoms are commonly found in space, molecular oxygen is a rarity and up until now had not been found anywhere else but on Earth. However, NASA scientists Bill Danchi and Paul Goldsmith with ties to Herschel, believe that that oxygen's molecular form must be abundant in space because oxygen is the third most common element in the universe.
“Oxygen gas was discovered in 1770’s, but it’s taken us more than 230 years to finally say with certainty that this very simple molecule exists in space,” Goldsmith said.
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Confirmation of the space molecular oxygen discovery was made using the HIFI Spectrometer and was observed within dense gas clouds in the nebula. The gas is released when stars forming in nebulas nearby heat particles as they accumulate within ice particles on floating dust grains.
Goldsmith also suggests that oxygen has always been hidden throughout recesses of space, but it's within obscure hard to spot locations.
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“Theory suggests we should find lots of oxygen atoms locked in molecular oxygen (O2)," Goldsmith explained, "but previous searches kept falling short of such a large amount. With this new data, we finally have a string hint at where cosmic oxygen might be hiding,”
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