Artist's conception of Cassiopeia A as it went supernova, along with two planets.
Credit: Mark A. Garlick; Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, U of T
Credit: Mark A. Garlick; Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, U of T
Phosphorous — one of the essential elements for life — has been discovered in the cosmic leftovers from a star explosion for the first time, scientists say.
The finding is one of two discoveries of elements in deep space that may give scientists clues to how life is possible in the universe, researchers said. The second discovery by a second team of scientists found traces of argon gas in a distant nebula.
Life as we know it depends on a combination of many elements, principally carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur and phosphorous. While scientists have found ample abundance of the first four elements in other star explosions, new observations of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A revealed the first evidence of phosphorus.