Found in Space: Molecule Only Made by Living Beings on Earth

For the first time, scientists have detected trace amounts of phosphine - a molecule that, on Earth, is produced only by living beings - in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf called Wolf 1130C.

Artist's conception of a brown dwarf

Throughout time, humanity has wondered if there's life somewhere in space and, with the advent of new technology, started actively looking for it. And phosphine is one of the potential biosignatures that could reveal life beyond Earth. So, this new discovery is distinctly remarkable.

Brown dwarfs like Wolf 1130C aren’t planets or stars, though they have features of both. They’re sometimes called “failed stars”: Their formation is star-like, but they lack the mass to continuously fuse hydrogen. In a study published this month in the journal Science, scientists report the detection of phosphine on this brown dwarf, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared spectral data.

However, before we all get too excited, that sadly doesn’t necessarily mean there’s life on Wolf 1130C, as brown dwarfs are not expected to be hospitable for organisms as we know them.

“We have to make sure we do the work of understanding all of the natural processes that can make this molecule before we can rule them out and say there must be a biological source,” says Adam Burgasser, an astrophysicist at the University of California, San Diego, who led the work, to the New York Times.

“Understanding phosphine chemistry in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs, where we don’t expect life, is crucial if we hope to use this molecule in the search for life on terrestrial worlds beyond our solar system.”

Scientists now hope to better understand the chemistry of phosphine to untangle how the chemical compound may form without the presence of life. Or is there life? Time will tell.

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