Oxygen In Space? 'Breathable' Oxygen Molecules Found By Herschel Telescope

Scientists are saying that for the first time, they've found proof of the oxygen molecule in space.

This new find, some 230 years since the discovery of oxygen gas, marks the first time the life-giving molecule has ever been found in deep space, according to NASA. For decades, researchers have used balloons, as well as grounded and space-based telescopes, to try and spot the elusive molecule in space.

From NASA:

Individual atoms of oxygen are common in space, particularly around massive stars. But molecular oxygen, which makes up about 20 percent of the air we breathe, has eluded astronomers until now.

In 2007, the Swedish Odin telescope may have also spotted the molecule, but the find could not be confirmed. This time, the Herschel Telescope seems to have definitively made the discovery.

According to the BBC, the find will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

While oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, the molecular form, consisting of just two atoms, had never before been seen in space. These molecules were found in a star-forming part of the constellation of Orion, according to the BBC. The Discover Magazine blog explains that the discovered oxygen "may have formed after starlight heated the dust and released water, which then broke down into the detected oxygen molecules."

The Herschel Telescope is credited for another amazing discovery earlier in the summer, when it spotted a star shooting "intense water jets" out into space. That discovery may one day play a large part in helping scientists determine the life cycle of stars and protostars.

This article has been corrected to clarify that oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe.

Comments

[FrictionSoul]

07:27 AM on 08/06/2011

Let's see: O is a known element in the Universe. So this is like saying "Sun discovered in outer space".

[straitline360]

09:13 AM on 08/05/2011

i;m suprised al gore hasent come forward and said he has proof that it escaped from the hole in the ozone layer.

[EricDietz]

08:19 AM on 08/05/2011

Nasa brings a lot of hope to us humans. And there is value in that. However, it does seem a lot of it is indeed wasted money. Us humans don't even know how electrons or protons are made!!! As of now all we know is they appear out of thin air. I remember in science class learning rocks are made of minerals, minerals are made of atoms, atoms are made of protons and neutrons, but when i asked the teachers how protons and neutrons are made, quickly she changed the subject. And i got, for the mostpart, the same reaction from all those later down the line in the field. Why not spend money to find out the answers to things that directly impact us first? Or has science given completely given up on the answer because it leads to creationalsim?

[Mister Grumpy]

01:32 AM on 08/05/2011

And once you leave earths atmosphere......... you just have to hold your breath until you get there.......... No problem.........

[PlutocratsSuck]

11:37 PM on 08/04/2011

That is incredible. Molecular oxygen in deep space? Wow.

[thetxsndn]

10:11 PM on 08/04/2011

Reading these posts. it's quite east to see why aliens have never fully made their presence known here on earth. They just flat don't want to be involved.

[BCinVA]

10:59 AM on 08/06/2011

Aliens are already here. They are the tea party. Other worldly indeed.

[thetxsndn]

11:08 AM on 08/06/2011

The same could be said about dems & repubs.

[ccsysglf]

08:43 PM on 08/04/2011

and cotton found in the south.............

[TaoShaffer]

07:15 PM on 08/04/2011

Alot of NASA haters here..

Just remember that it was NASA that brought you all kinds of things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off

[groosemoose]

08:08 PM on 08/04/2011

I read down the comments, and it's so depressing. No wonder this country is sinking. People can't see more than an inch in front of their noses.

You know what? I'm almost tempted to give up on trying for a better society. Many are getting exactly the short-sighted pandering liar politicians that suit them.

[palindrom]

07:50 AM on 08/05/2011

There has always been a powerful current of anti-intellectualism in American life. It's up to us educated folks to push back.

[groosemoose]

08:08 PM on 08/04/2011

Oh, and I still believe in NASA.

[SuperDaveOsborn]

06:57 PM on 08/04/2011

What, an astronaut farted in space ? What's so significant about that ? Oh, but wait - the NEXT thing we'll be told is that "THERE MUST BE INTELLIGENT LIFE OUT THERE SOME PLACE" as if that mattered anyway; but to which I'd say "good" - because there doesn't appear to be any intelligence here !

[pdanl13]

09:43 PM on 08/04/2011

You just proved that...

[dethburger]

10:04 PM on 08/04/2011

Great reply.

[talo821]

11:07 PM on 08/04/2011

Afraid that would be methane..

[m320753]

06:27 PM on 08/04/2011

how many trillions of dollars has it cost the country to find this useless information? i'm not going to jump off the space lab because some telwscope tells me there is breathable air in the vacuum of space. nasa the biggest waste of money ever, more waste than the bushes wars against the mid east

[care4ub0y]

09:42 PM on 08/04/2011

Many conveniences you enjoy was brought into existence by NASA!

[pdanl13]

09:46 PM on 08/04/2011

Come on you can do better than this. You managed to get a jab on Bush in an article on space. But you failed to say troll or complain about the rich. You need to work on your posts.

[sdmartintc]

03:32 PM on 08/04/2011

How can the oxygen molecules, which are made of two oxygen atoms, be formed from the breakdown of water molecules, which are made of two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms? Where do the hydrogen atoms go? Something I missed in my chemistry class?

[Patroclus]

03:46 PM on 08/04/2011

WOW! Your really did miss it! Two water molecules react under certain conditions to form one diatomic oxygen molecule and two diatomic hydrogen molecules. This is necessary to obey the basic law of conservation of matter.

[Frogz]

05:10 PM on 08/04/2011

Keep in mind that oxygen on this planet is created in very large part by photsynthesis. Plants combine H2O and CO2 to create carbohydrates (using the C and H) and expel the O. There was a very small amount of oxygen in our atmosphere prior to life in the ocean

[John J Garzi]

03:21 PM on 08/04/2011

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN TOLD I TAKE UP SPACE..

[m320753]

06:28 PM on 08/04/2011

not as much my friend as the whole nasa waste of money

[PlutocratsSuck]

11:36 PM on 08/04/2011

"the whole nasa"??

What are you 12yrs old?

[SuperDaveOsborn]

06:59 PM on 08/04/2011

HOW PROFOUND JOHN - For that's all that NASA is doing !

[kejavas]

03:16 PM on 08/04/2011

Oxygen molecules are made of two oxygen atoms joined together by two covalent bonds. These are not plentiful and could be from water molecules that separated by light refactions on ice surfaces. They could have traveled from asteroids that were attracted to the Orion belt.

[Bridgeburner]

02:28 PM on 08/04/2011

I think that the Federation Starship Enterprise dumped their waste in that general area once or twice. That makes more sense than a klingon fart.
Now Everyone knows there is oxagen in space why is this news, oh i forgot not enough tragedys happened today.

[JamesScott]

03:00 PM on 08/04/2011

I think it made news because it's never been reliably verified...although I remember all those great photos snapped of Orion when Hubble first became operational, where they said, "Here's the molecular oxygen!" Maybe they forgot about it.

[m320753]

06:30 PM on 08/04/2011

if you think it's reliable, then i got a bridge in brooklyn i can sell you. it's just nasa keeping it's name in the news.

[sdmartintc]

03:37 PM on 08/04/2011

Don't forget that the Romulins have to dump their waste somewhere, too.

[mbrahms26]

02:19 PM on 08/04/2011

God placed the oxygen there so humans can breathe it when they travel out into space. Yet more evidence of Intelligent Design in the Universe.

[dwes09]

02:38 PM on 08/04/2011

Which verse does that come from? Do you have any idea how far away that area is? This is evidence of the physics of interstellar space, not "intelligent design".

[dwes09]

02:42 PM on 08/04/2011

Whoops, missed the irony. That's why the Good Lord made emoticons!!!

[m320753]

06:37 PM on 08/04/2011

here we go again, the world wasn't formed by itself. nor is the universe and everything beyond formed by a speck of dust. even if it were true, where did the speck of dust come from? someone had to put it there and His name is God. God designed everything that exists everywhere. He didn't make it per say He more likely willed it. it's just a big waste of money to discover this stuff which we have neither the ways, means or time to travel that far

[JamesScott]

03:01 PM on 08/04/2011

It's evidence that the theory is correct: Oxygen occurs throughout the universe by the natural process of thermonuclear fusion.

[palindrom]

07:48 AM on 08/05/2011

Indeed it does! But the point of the story was finding _molecular_ oxygen, which is pretty hard to make.