Space

New research on flares from a hot-tempered star could inform search for habitable planets

Daniel William Strain — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:27:50 +0000

New research on flares from a hot-tempered star could inform search for habitable planets Daniel William… Thu, 12/04/2025 - 15:27

Daniel Strain

Artist's concept of a planet called TRAPPIST-1d passing in front of the star TRAPPIST-1. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted/STScI)

Like a toddler right before naptime, TRAPPIST-1 is a small yet moody star. This little star, which sits in the constellation Aquarius about 40 light-years from Earth, spits out bursts of energy known as “flares” about six times a day.

New research led by CU Boulder takes the deepest look yet at the physics behind TRAPPIST-1’s celestial temper tantrums. The team’s findings could help scientists search for habitable planets beyond Earth’s solar system.

The researchers used observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and computer simulations, or “models,” to understand how TRAPPIST-1 produces its flares—first building up magnetic energy, then releasing it to kick off a chain of events that launches radiation deep into space. The results could help scientists unravel how the star has shaped its nearby planets, potentially in drastic ways.

The team published its findings Nov. 20 in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters.”

Artist's depiction of TRAPPIST-1 with its seven Earth-like planets in orbit. In a Goldilocks situation, the innermost planets are likely too hot to host liquid water, while the outermost planets are too cold. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Artist's concept of the planet TRAPPIST-1e, which may carry hints of an Earth-like atmosphere. (Credit: NASA)

“We think that the innermost TRAPPIST-1 planets are just bare, denuded rocks because the star has blown away their atmospheres,” said Ward Howard, lead author of the new study and a NASA Sagan Fellow in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences (APS) at CU Boulder.

It’s a highlight for the little star, which has attracted a lot of attention from scientists in recent years.

TRAPPIST-1 has less than 10% the mass of the sun and is only a bit larger than the planet Jupiter. But it also hosts seven Earth-sized planets, three of which lie in what researchers call the “habitable zone”—a region of space that may have just the right temperatures for liquid water to form on the surface of a planet.

There’s just one big problem: Scientists have struggled to get a good look at those planets because of the star’s volatile activity.

“When scientists had just started observing TRAPPIST-1, we hadn’t anticipated the majority of our transits would be obstructed by these large flares,” Howard said.

The challenge of studying flares

Studying a flare is a bit like investigating the scene of a crime. Scientists can see the aftermath of a flare—in this case, a big flash. The Webb telescope, for example, records how much infrared radiation, or heat, a star releases during a flare.

But that same space telescope can’t tell you whodunnit.

Howard said that all stars, from TRAPPIST-1 to our own sun, are surrounded by magnetic fields. These magnetic fields twist and bend, forming something that looks like a bowl of noodles. They also shape the plasma, an ultra-hot gas made up of charged particles, in a star’s outer atmosphere.

Sometimes those magnetic fields can get a little too twisted. When that happens, the fields snap, and a beam of electrons hurtles through the star’s atmosphere. That beam is the culprit behind a flare.

“Those beams will continue down into the stellar atmosphere where they smack into the plasma and heat it up,” Howard said. “And once you have a nice hot plasma, it glows.”

To solve the mystery of TRAPPIST-1’s flares, Howard and his colleagues analyzed data from six flares collected by the Webb telescope in 2022 and 2023.

The researchers turned to a new grid of models that describe the physics of flares developed by Adam Kowalski, an associate professor in APS who is also a co-author of the current study.

The models use a series of complex equations to, essentially, wind back time for these flares. If the researchers spot a flare coming from TRAPPIST-1, they can use the models to predict what kind of electron beam kicked off that flare in the first place.

Wimpy flares

Knowing about those electron beams may open up a range of opportunities for scientists studying TRAPPIST-1, Howard said.

For a start, his team discovered that TRAPPIST-1’s flares seem to be surprisingly weak. Most flares from similar stars, by comparison, are produced by electron beams about 10 times stronger.

“These flares were a little wimpier than we expected,” Howard said.

He added that the same electron beams that produce the infrared light seen by Webb also generate a wide range of other kind of radiation—from visible light to ultraviolet radiation and powerful X-rays. The group’s research will allow scientists to explore that full range of radiation coming from TRAPPIST-1’s flares. This information could help researchers understand how these events might alter the atmospheric chemistry of nearby planets.

Scientists suspect that one of the planets in TRAPPIST-1’s habitable zone, named TRAPPIST-1e, may carry a hint of an Earth-like atmosphere—a possible sign of habitability.

“If we can simulate these events using a computer model, we can reverse engineer how a flare might influence the radiation environment around each of these planets,” Howard said.

Co-authors of the new study include researchers at the �Թ�� of Chicago; Johns Hopkins �Թ��; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; �Թ�� of Oxford; and Université de Montréal.

A new study takes a close look at TRAPPIST-1, a little star roughly 40 light-years from our sun that hosts seven Earth-sized planets.

Traditional

White

Postdoc working on AI for astronauts

Megan M Rogers — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:32:39 +0000

Postdoc working on AI for astronauts Megan M Rogers Wed, 12/03/2025 - 09:32

Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences

Ulubilge Ulusoy is advancing the science of artificial intelligence to help astronauts on future missions to Mars.

Traditional

White

A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients

Yvaine Ye — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:09:45 +0000

A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients Yvaine Ye Mon, 12/01/2025 - 11:09

Yvaine Ye

Earth’s atmosphere might have contributed to the origin of life more than previously thought.

In a study published Dec. 1 in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," CU Boulder researchers and collaborators reveal that billions of years ago, the planet’s early sky might have been producing sulfur-containing molecules that were essential ingredients for life.

The finding challenges a long-held theory that these sulfur molecules emerged only after life had already formed.

“Our study could help us understand the evolution of life at its earliest stages,” said first author Nate Reed, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA, who conducted the work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder.

Nate Reed and Ellie Browne (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder)

Just like carbon, sulfur is an essential element found in all life forms, from single-cell bacteria to humans. It is part of some amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein.

While the young Earth’s atmosphere contained sulfur elements, scientists had long thought that organic sulfur compounds, or biomolecules like amino acids, emerged later as a product of the living system.

In previous simulations of early Earth, scientists either failed to detect meaningful amounts of sulfur biomolecules before life existed, or created the molecules only under specialized conditions that were unlikely to be widespread on this planet.

As a result, when the James Webb Space Telescope detected dimethyl sulfide, an organic sulfur compound produced by marine algae on Earth, on another planet called K2-18b, many thought it was a possible sign of life on other planets.

But in previous work, Reed and the study’s senior author, Ellie Browne, a chemistry professor and a CIRES fellow, successfully created dimethyl sulfide in their lab using only light and common atmospheric gases. This suggested that this molecule could arise in places void of life.

This time, Browne, Reed and their team set off to see what early Earth’s sky could have contributed. They shone light on a gas mixture containing methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and nitrogen to simulate Earth’s atmosphere before life emerged.

Sulfur is a difficult element to work with in the lab, according to Browne. It tends to stick to all equipment, and in the atmosphere, sulfur molecules tend to exist at very low concentrations compared to CO2 and nitrogen. “You have to have equipment that can measure incredibly tiny quantities of the products,” she added.

Ellie Browne (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder)

Using a highly sensitive mass spectrometry instrument that can identify and measure different chemical compounds, Browne’s team found that the early Earth simulation produced a whole suite of sulfur biomolecules, including the amino acids cysteine and taurine, as well as coenzyme M, a compound critical for metabolism.

When the team scaled their lab results to calculate how much cysteine an entire atmosphere could produce, they found that the early Earth’s sky might have brought cysteine to supply about one octillion—one followed by 27 zeros—cells. Currently, Earth boasts about one nonillion—one followed by 30 zeros—cells.

“While it’s not as many as what’s present now, that was still a lot of cysteine in an environment without life. It might be enough for a budding global ecosystem, where life is just getting started,” Reed said.

The team said these biomolecules formed in Earth’s atmosphere might have fallen onto the ground or oceans with rain, helping to get life started.

“Life probably required some very specialized conditions to get started, like near volcanoes or hydrothermal vents with complex chemistry,” Browne said. “We used to think life had to start completely from scratch, but our results suggest some of these more complex molecules were already widespread under non-specialized conditions, which might have made it a little easier for life to get going.”

A CU Boulder-led study finds that Earth's early atmosphere could have produced key sulfur biomolecules essential for life, challenging long-held assumptions.

Traditional

An artist’s interpretation of young Earth, with haze built up in the atmosphere. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy)

White

An artist’s interpretation of young Earth, with haze built up in the atmosphere. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy)

Close brush with 2 hot stars millions of years ago left a mark just beyond our solar system

Daniel William Strain — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:43:28 +0000

Close brush with 2 hot stars millions of years ago left a mark just beyond our solar system Daniel William… Mon, 12/01/2025 - 10:43

Daniel Strain

Nearly 4.5 million years ago, two large, hot stars brushed tantalizingly close to Earth’s sun. They left behind a trace in the clouds of gas and dust that swirl just beyond our solar system—almost like the scent of perfume after someone has left the room.

That’s one finding from new research led by Michael Shull, an astrophysicist at CU Boulder, and published Nov. 24 in The Astrophysical Journal.

The study sheds new light on the details of Earth’s neighborhood in space.

Earth’s solar system is surrounded by what scientists call the “local interstellar clouds.” These wispy clumps of gas and dust are made up mostly of hydrogen and helium atoms and stretch about 30 light-years, or roughly 175 trillion miles, from end to end.

Map of the local interstellar clouds just outside Earth's solar system, with blue arrows showing in what directions these clouds are moving. The yellow arrow indicates the direction of the sun's own motion. (Credit: NASA/Adler/U. Chicago/Wesleyan; https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10906)

The constellation Canis Major seen in the night sky. Beta Canis Majoris sits at the end of the dog's "front leg," while Epsilon Canis Majoris is at the end of the "rear leg." (Credit: CC image by Till Credner via Wikimedia Commons)

Zoom past that and our sun exists in a region of the galaxy known as the “local hot bubble,” where gas and dust are relatively scarce.

Shull noted that understanding these features is important because they may have influenced the evolution of life on Earth over millions of years.

“The fact that the sun is inside this set of clouds that can shield us from that ionizing radiation may be an important piece of what makes Earth habitable today,” said Shull, professor emeritus in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at CU Boulder.

In the new research, he and his colleagues used a series of equations, or models, to catalogue the forces that have shaped our corner of the galaxy over time.

The group examined two stars in particular: Epsilon Canis Majoris, sometimes called Adhara, and Beta Canis Majoris, or Mirzam.

Today, these stars sit in the front and rear legs of the constellation Canis Major, or the “Great Dog.” Based on the team’s calculations, they likely charged past our sun around 4.4 million years ago at a distance of 30 to 35 light-years, a close brush in cosmic terms.

In the process, those stars, which are much hotter than the sun, emitted powerful ultraviolet radiation. That radiation “ionized” the local clouds, stripping electrons from the hydrogen and helium atoms and leaving them with a positive charge—a mark that scientists can still see today.

“If you think back 4.4 million years, these two stars would have been anywhere from four to six times brighter than Sirius is today, far and away the brightest stars in the sky,” Shull said.

Jigsaw puzzle

The research drills down on a mystery that has confounded scientists for decades.

When researchers first began peering at the region of space beyond our solar system decades ago, including with the Hubble Space Telescope, they discovered something strange: Around 20% of the hydrogen atoms and 40% of the helium atoms in the local clouds had been ionized—the amount of ionized helium, in particular, seemed unusually high.

In the current study, Shull and his colleagues set out to inventory the celestial phenomena that may have contributed to that ionization.

The team wound back time to simulate what Earth’s neighborhood was like millions of years ago—a difficult task, in part because the sun is barreling through the local gas in the galaxy at a speed of 58,000 miles per hour.

“It’s kind of a jigsaw puzzle where all the different pieces are moving,” Shull said. “The sun is moving. Stars are racing away from us. The clouds are drifting away.”

The group reports that at least six sources may have helped to ionize the clouds around our solar system. They include three small white dwarf stars. The hot bubble itself may also have played a role.

Shull explained that this void in space was likely created by 10 to 20 stars going supernova—a bit like blowing bubbles into a glass of milk. Those explosions heated up gas within the hot bubble. These hot gases continue to churn out ultraviolet and X-ray radiation today, which bakes the clouds around Earth’s solar system.

Feeling the heat

Epsilon and Beta Canis Majoris likely contributed just as much to the ionization of the sun’s local clouds as the hot gas in the local bubble.

These stars, which today sit more than 400 light-years from Earth, are B-stars, which tend to live fast and hard. Epsilon and Beta Canis Majoris will only burn for 20 million years at most. They are about 13 times more massive than our sun and blaze at about 38,000 and 45,000 degrees Fahrenheit—making the sun, at roughly 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, look chilly in comparison.

Shull noted that the ionization of the local clouds will likely disappear over millions of years as those positively charged atoms pick up stray electrons in space.

Epsilon and Beta Canis Majoris themselves don’t have much time. Shull estimates that these stars will likely spend the last of their fuel and go supernova in the next few million years.

They won’t pose any danger to Earth, Shull said, but will produce an impressive light show—if anyone is around to see it.

“A supernova blowing up that close will light up the sky,” he said. “It’ll be very, very bright but far enough away that it won’t be lethal.”

Co-authors of the new study include Rachel Curran at the �Թ�� of North Carolina; Michael Topping at the �Թ�� of Arizona; and Jonathan Slavin at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Roughly 4.5 million years ago, two stars known as Epsilon and Beta Canis Majoris flew past Earth's sun at a distance of about 30 to 35 light-years. In the process, they altered the chemistry of what scientists call the "local interstellar clouds."

Traditional

White

Scientists get to the bottom of mysterious Martian clouds

Daniel William Strain — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:02:15 +0000

Scientists get to the bottom of mysterious Martian clouds Daniel William… Fri, 11/21/2025 - 10:02

This story was adapted from a version published by California State �Թ��, San Bernadino. Read the original here.

A team of researchers, including planetary scientists at CU Boulder, have solved a decade-old Martian mystery that baffled planetary scientists worldwide.

The study, published online in “Icarus” in September ahead of its appearance in the scientific journal’s January 2026 issue, reexamines a 2015 report that claimed to show massive “plumes” of material extending more than 150 miles above the Martian surface—far beyond the planet’s lower atmosphere. In planetary terms, a plume is a broad, feather-shaped cloud of gas, dust, or other material that extends outward from its source. The paper, titled “High-altitude Martian plume is likely an ordinary twilight cloud,” offers a new explanation for the phenomenon.

The study was led by Matteo Crismani at California State �Թ��, San Bernadino, who earned a doctorate in astrophysics and planetary science from CU Boulder in 2017.

He was joined by co-authors Michael Chaffin, Kyle Connour, Nicholas Schneider, Shannon Curry, Justin Deighan and Sonal Jain, all from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder; Reed Fitzpatrick from the �Թ�� of California, Riverside; Giuliano Luizzi from the �Թ�� of Basilicata; Marek Slipski from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Geronimo Villanueva from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

In this image of Mars taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, an arrow points to a plume that seems to be extending above the Martian atmosphere. A new analysis, however, finds that the cloud is well within the edge of the planet. (Credit: Crismani et al. 2026, Icarus)

“This research brought together scientists from multiple NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) Mars missions, senior and junior researchers, and even an undergraduate contributor,” said Crismani. “It exemplifies the scientific process, where new evidence sparks mystery and debate, yet through collaboration and communication, understanding of complex phenomena can be achieved within our lifetimes.”

The original 2015 telescopic observations showed patches of light that appeared to rise above the edge of the planet, effectively into space. Since clouds are unlikely to form so high, scientists proposed other possibilities—such as a new type of dust storm or even a daytime aurora. For nearly a decade, the phenomenon remained an unsolved mystery.

Crismani and his colleagues recently reanalyzed the published images of Mars and discovered that it was literally a matter of perspective. The original report had not fully accounted for Earth, Mars and the Sun not being in a straight line. In the new study, careful analysis of the viewing geometry revealed that a small but significant dark crescent was in view, much like Earth’s moon when it is not quite full. This meant that part of Mars' nightside was in view behind the bright patches, but too dark for the telescopes to detect.

“When you notice a pair of eyes gleaming at you out of the darkness, the simplest explanation is that there’s an animal behind them that’s just too shadowy for you to make out, not that there’s a ghost or apparition standing there in defiance of known physics,” said Chaffin. “The same is true of Mars: Rather than exotic plumes, simple geometry and ordinary clouds seem to be the cause of these phenomena.”

Once the geometry was verified with computer models, the patches of light were much easier to explain—they were just normal clouds over Mars at sunrise or sunset. When viewed from Earth, the clouds lined up against Mars' dark crescent, creating the illusion that they were impossibly high. But such twilight clouds are relatively common on Mars and have been observed by orbiters and rovers. The team’s analysis confirmed that no new types of clouds, dust storms or auroras are needed to explain the event.

What once appeared to be clouds in space turned out to be a simple matter of perspective. Mystery solved.

An international research team has solved a decade-old Martian phenomenon that once baffled planetary scientists. The new study shows that mysterious high-altitude “plumes” seen above Mars were ordinary twilight clouds viewed from a unique angle.

Traditional

White

The reaches of CU Boulder research

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:53:50 +0000

The reaches of CU Boulder research Megan M Rogers Thu, 11/13/2025 - 14:53

Coloradan

CU researchers across space science, bioengineering and nanomaterials are turning "what if" questions into transformative discoveries.

Traditional

White

Solar physicist explains science behind colorful aurora borealis over the US

Daniel William Strain — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:58:29 +0000

Solar physicist explains science behind colorful aurora borealis over the US Daniel William… Thu, 11/13/2025 - 11:58

Daniel Strain , Nicholas Goda , Casey Bauer

The aurora shines above Coot Lake in Longmont, Colorado, in November 2025. (Credit: Ryan French)

Late on Friday, Nov. 7, Ryan French was flying from Denver to Chicago when he saw something surprising from his window seat: glowing green and purple lights in the skies high above the Midwest.

For French, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder, the event was a rare opportunity to witness the phenomena he studies. He’s a solar physicist who studies the sun’s volatile nature—dynamics that can, under certain circumstances, create brilliant light shows in Earth’s atmosphere. These phenomena are called the aurora borealis, or northern lights.

The scientist’s flight was a teaser for things to come: This week, people across the United States saw the aurora as far south as parts of Florida and Texas, and more displays may be in store in the nights to come.

French writes about these events for non-specialist audiences, and his book “Space Hazards” is coming out in December.

He gives his take on what causes this kind of phenomenal light show, and provides tips for how Coloradans might catch these lights in the sky.

Ryan French speaks in front of an image of the surface of the sun at the Fiske Planetarium at CU Boulder. (Credit: Ryan French)

French and his wife gaze at the aurora in Colorado in May 2024. (Credit: Ryan French)

The aurora above Coot Lake in November 2025. (Credit: Ryan French)

What causes the aurora?

Essentially, you have an eruption of stuff from the sun. This is called a coronal mass ejection. It’s an ejection of mass from the sun’s corona, which is the word we use for the sun’s atmosphere.

It can take several days for the coronal mass ejection to reach Earth, but when it does, it slams into Earth's magnetic field and high energy particles will enter our magnetic field. They will then slide down towards the North and South Poles, and those particles will collide with the air in our atmosphere and cause the atmosphere to glow.

The different colors you see in the aurora are caused by different elements at different heights being smacked by these high energy particles from space.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the aurora this far south in recent years—there was a major solar storm in May 2024. Why is that?

The sun follows an 11-year cycle of increasing and decreasing solar activity. We call this the solar cycle. At the peak of this cycle, where we are now, there are lots of sunspots on the sun. These produce a lot of solar flares and eruptions that head towards Earth.

At the bottom of this cycle, the sun doesn't really do anything for years at a time. After the next year or two, we're going to have an absence of major events on the sun for a few years.

Can these events pose a danger to humans?

The largest events from the sun can disrupt things like power grids and satellite navigation. But this week’s event was not strong enough that anyone at home needs to be concerned. But, if you work in satellite operations, you will be taking extra steps to the monitor the positioning of your spacecraft.

How are scientists trying to reduce those risks?

We are observing the sun 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If there is a solar flare or an eruption from the sun, there are alerts that are sent out. Industries will look at these forecasts and take necessary actions to try and minimize the risks.

How can people see the aurora?

During active periods of the aurora, my advice is to head out, face north and get away from streetlights. Maybe you'll be able to see some greens and reds with your eye. But if you can't, just take out your phone, set a long exposure, take the photograph, and you'll see those colors beginning to pop.

Why are phones better at seeing the aurora than human eyes?

The human eye is not great at seeing in the dark. When your eyes adjust at nighttime, your color perception isn't fantastic, but a camera will pick up those colors that your eye cannot.

Why do you like seeing the aurora so much?

I am a solar astrophysicist, so I research the sun and the origins of these events. To see firsthand the influence of something 93 million miles away happening above our heads is quite striking. The aurora sends the message that Earth is not just an isolated bubble in space, but we live in a solar system. We live next to a star.

I've seen the aurora many times now, and every time it's different. The colors, the shapes, they all vary from time to time.

People in Colorado and across the United States saw glowing skies this week as a powerful solar storm shook Earth's atmosphere.

Traditional

White

Student-built rocket flies into the stratosphere

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 17:01:53 +0000

Student-built rocket flies into the stratosphere Megan M Rogers Tue, 11/11/2025 - 10:01

Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences

CU Boulder students who are part of the Sounding Rocket Lab designed and launched a rocket that soared to 90,000 feet in altitude.

Traditional

White

Coronal mass ejections at the dawn of the solar system

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 17:42:25 +0000

Coronal mass ejections at the dawn of the solar system Megan M Rogers Fri, 11/07/2025 - 10:42

Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

International researchers, including several from CU Boulder's LASP, have reported the first evidence of a coronal mass ejection carrying both hot and cool plasma from a young star—suggesting such ejections from the early sun may have affected the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere and the emergence and evolution of life on Earth.

Traditional

White

Chemists find clues to the origins of buckyballs in space

Daniel William Strain — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 19:44:28 +0000

Chemists find clues to the origins of buckyballs in space Daniel William… Mon, 11/03/2025 - 12:44

Daniel Strain

Image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope of the so-called "Pillars of Creation," a region in the Eagle Nebula where clouds of gas and dust are collapsing to form new stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Far from Earth, in the vast expanses of space between stars, exists a treasure trove of carbon. There, in what scientists call the “interstellar medium,” you can find a wide range of organic molecules—from honeycomblike polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to spheres of carbon shaped like soccer balls.

In a new study, an international team of researchers led by scientists at CU Boulder have used experiments on Earth to recreate the chemistry deep in space. The group’s results may have uncovered key steps in the processes that shape these organic molecules over time.

Jordy Bouwman

The molecule buckminsterfullerene, shown here, earned its name because it resembles Richard Buckminster Fuller's architectural design for the geodesic dome. (Credit: CC image via Wikimedia commons)

The findings could reveal information about the building blocks that once formed Earth’s solar system, said Jordy Bouwman, lead author of the study. Billions of years ago, similar clouds of matter condensed to form the seeds of what would become our own sun and its planets.

“We’re all made of carbon, so it’s really important to know how carbon in the universe gets transformed on its way to being incorporated in a planetary system like our own solar system,” said Bouwman, an assistant professor at the Department of Chemistry and scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder.

The research, published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, sheds light on the formation of a class of molecules called fullerenes.

Fullerenes are made up of carbon atoms organized in the shape of a closed cage. The most famous example is buckminsterfullerene, or the buckyball, which gets its name from famed futurist Richard Buckminster Fuller. These molecules include 60 carbon atoms in the shape of a sphere and bear a striking resemblance to a FIFA regulation soccer ball.

Fullerenes, including buckyballs, float freely in the interstellar medium. But scientists have long struggled to explain where they come from and how they are formed.

The new study suggests that radiation in space may help to transform PAHs into fullerenes.

“This gives us a hint that the buckyballs that we find in space may be connected to these large aromatic molecules that are also abundant,” Bouwman said.

Space chemistry, on Earth

The group simulated the chemistry in space by studying two small PAH molecules called anthracene and phenanthrene.

PAHs are made up of carbon atoms arranged in a series of hexagons, not unlike a honeycomb. They’re abundant on Earth where you can find them in smoke, soot and other charred materials.

“If you put your steak on the grill for too long, and it gets black, that contains PAHs,” Bouwman said. “They’re a nasty byproduct of combustion.”

First, the researchers bombarded the two PAHs with a beam of electrons. It’s similar to what happens when radiation in space interacts with molecules in the interstellar medium.

This bombardment transformed the PAHs into new, charged organic molecules. The researchers then fed the products into an ion trap apparatus at a scientific facility called the Free Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiments at HFML-FELIX. This one-of-a-kind national research facility is located in Nijmegen in the Netherlands and includes several lasers that spread across a large basement room. Using those lasers, the researchers were able to precisely probe the structure of their new molecules.

They were surprised when they saw the results.

Graphic showing how anthracene, top left, and phenanthrene, bottom right, lose one or two hydrogen atoms to transform into molecules containing carbon atoms in the shape of both hexagons and pentagons. (Credit: Patch et al. 2025, J. Am. Chem. Soc.)

Making buckyballs

Bouwman explained that when the team hit anthracene and phenanthrene with electrons, the molecules lost one or two of their hydrogen atoms.

In the process, they also radically changed their structures, like disassembling a Lego castle and building a new structure. Instead of just including hexagons, the resulting products now carried carbon atoms arranged in the shape of both hexagons and pentagons.

That radical reaction had never been seen before, Bouwman said. Whether these kinds of pentagon-bearing molecules are also common in space isn’t clear.

“That was a very surprising result—that just by kicking off a hydrogen atom or two, the entire molecule completely rearranged,” said Sandra Brünken, a co-author of the study, associate professor at Radboud �Թ�� in the Netherlands and group leader at FELIX.

The results were eye-opening, in part because those kinds of molecules are also really easy to fold up. (Just picture a soccer ball, which is made up of a mix of both hexagons and pentagons).

In other words, these pentagon-bearing molecules may be the missing link for converting common PAHs into buckyballs and other fullerenes.

Bouwman and Brünken hope that astrophysicists will take note. Scientists could use the team’s findings to see if similar pentagon-bearing molecules exist deep in space using tools like the James Webb Space Telescope—the most powerful telescope ever launched.

“You can take our results from the laboratory, and then use them as a fingerprint to look for the same signatures in space,” Brünken said.

CU Boulder co-authors of the new study include LASP graduate students Madison Patch and Rory McClish. Other co-authors include scientists at Radboud �Թ��; Leiden �Թ�� in the Netherlands; Paris-East Créteil �Թ�� in France; and the �Թ�� of Maryland College Park.

A new study led by space chemist Jordy Bouwman may reveal a missing link in how certain organic molecules form in outer space. They include buckminsterfullerine, sometimes known as the "buckyball," a molecule that bears a striking resemblance to a soccer ball.

Traditional

White

Space

New research on flares from a hot-tempered star could inform search for habitable planets

The challenge of studying flares

Wimpy flares

Related Articles

Postdoc working on AI for astronauts

Related Articles

A new possibility for life: Study suggests ancient skies rained down ingredients

Related Articles

Close brush with 2 hot stars millions of years ago left a mark just beyond our solar system

Jigsaw puzzle

Feeling the heat

Related Articles

Scientists get to the bottom of mysterious Martian clouds

Related Articles

The reaches of CU Boulder research

Related Articles

Solar physicist explains science behind colorful aurora borealis over the US

What causes the aurora?

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the aurora this far south in recent years—there was a major solar storm in May 2024. Why is that?

Can these events pose a danger to humans?

How are scientists trying to reduce those risks?

How can people see the aurora?

Why are phones better at seeing the aurora than human eyes?

Why do you like seeing the aurora so much?

Related Articles

Student-built rocket flies into the stratosphere

Related Articles

Coronal mass ejections at the dawn of the solar system

Related Articles

Chemists find clues to the origins of buckyballs in space

Space chemistry, on Earth

Making buckyballs

Related Articles