Cooking Up an Alien Haze in the Lab: Scientists Recreate Conditions of Distant Exoplanets
A mysterious “alien haze” has been cooking up in labs around the world, and scientists are just beginning to unravel its secrets. This strange amalgam of molecules, first discovered in the 1970s, is made up of particles that are not found in nature. Scientists have long debated its source and whether it could be linked to life beyond Earth. Now, after decades of research, a team of scientists has finally been able to take a closer look at the alien haze and determine where it might have come from. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, reveal that this strange material may have been born in the depths of space, and could be related to comets and asteroids that have made their way to our planet. The team used a unique laboratory technique to analyze the individual particles of the alien haze, and found that they are made up of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen, with a few other elements thrown in. This composition is similar to that of comets and asteroids, suggesting that the alien haze could have been created as these bodies traveled through the interstellar medium. The researchers also noted that the particles of the alien haze were larger than those typically found in meteorites, which could indicate a different origin. More research is needed to determine the exact source of
source: Phys.org