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Argon – The First Noble Gas Molecules Discovered In Space

Messier 1 Hubble Image: Credit - NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)

Messier 1 Hubble Image: Credit – NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)

There are only six of them: radon, helium, neon, krypton, xenon and the first molecules to be discovered in space – argon. They are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases with very low chemical reactivity. So where did a team of astronomers using ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory make their rather unusual discovery? Try Messier 1… The “Crab” Nebula!

In a study led by Professor Mike Barlow (UCL Department of Physics & Astronomy), a UCL research team was taking measurements of cold gas and dust regions of this famous supernova remnant in infrared light when they stumbled upon the chemical signature of argon hydrogen ions. By observing in longer wavelengths of light than can be detected by the human eye, the scientists gave credence to current theories of how argon occurs naturally.


When it comes to a star, they are hot and ignite the visible spectrum. Cold objects like nebular dust are better seen in infrared, but there’s only one problem – Earth’s atmosphere interferes with the detection of that end of the electromagnetic spectrum. Even though we can see nebulae in visible light, what shows is the product of hot, excited gases, not the cold and dusty regions. These invisible regions are the specialty of Herschel’s SPIRE instruments. They map the dust in far-infrared with their spectroscopic observations. In this instance, the researchers were somewhat astounded when they found some very unusual data which required time to fully understand.


According to the news release, elements can exist in varying forms known as isotopes. These have different numbers of neutrons in the atomic nuclei. When it comes to properties, isotopes can be somewhat alike to each other, but they have different masses. Because of this, the rotational speed is dependent on which isotopes are present in a molecule. “The light coming from certain regions of the Crab Nebula showed extremely strong and unexplained peaks in intensity around 618 gigahertz and 1235 GHz.” By comparing data of known properties of different molecules, the science team came to the conclusion the mystery emission was the product of spinning molecular ions of argon hydride. What’s more, it could be isolated. The only argon isotope which could spin like that was argon-36! It would appear the energy released from the central neutron star in the Crab Nebula ionized the argon, which then combined with hydrogen molecules to form the molecular ion ArH+.

Professor Bruce Swinyard (UCL Department of Physics & Astronomy and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory), a member of the team, added: “Our discovery was unexpected in another way — because normally when you find a new molecule in space, its signature is weak and you have to work hard to find it. In this case it just jumped out of our spectra.”

Is this instance of argon-36 in a supernova remnant natural? You bet. Even though the discovery was the first of its kind, it is doubtless not the last time it will be detected. Now astronomers can solidify their theories of how argon forms. Current predictions allow for argon-36 and no argon-40 to also be part of supernova structure. However, here on Earth, argon-40 is a dominant isotope, one which is created through the radioactive decay of potassium in rocks.

Noble gas research will continue to be a focus of scientists at UCL. As an amazing coincidence, argon, along with other noble gases, was discovered at UCL by William Ramsay at the end of the 19th century! I wonder what he would have thought had he known just how very far those discoveries would take us?

Original Story Source: University College London (UCL) Press Release



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  • nitpicker357 December 13, 2013, 1:30 AM

    “Is this instance of argon-36 in a supernova remnant natural? You bet. Even though the discovery was the first of its kind, it is doubtless the last time it will be detected. ”
    Shouldn’t that be “… it is doubtless NOT the last time it will be detected?”

  • Coacervate December 13, 2013, 3:42 AM

    @nitpicker, Go pick your seat. Is that the best you can manage? this is a fantastic result. Although um, I mean if Argon is monatomic that would make it you know atomic not molecular. Heh

  • tonybarry December 13, 2013, 5:49 AM

    In high-school chemistry, it is taught that the noble gases are atomic (i.e do not form molecules). In fact, they can, although it’s not the way we commonly find them on earth. Argon, in this case, has formed a molecule with hydrogen, and the net molecule is charged (1+). This is not what we see on earth, but in interstellar space it would appear to be able to occur on a grand scale. What becomes of the enormous static charge of such clouds of gas ? The answer is not known to me, but in the violent environment of the Crab, I’d believe almost anything goes.


    • magnus.nyborg December 13, 2013, 11:37 AM

      The charge is overall balanced by the presence of free electrons and other negatively charged ionic molecules. Due to the near-perfect vacuum the interactions and neutrailzation becomes rare events. On a larger scale there is still no net effective charge in either direction.
      Basically, the near-vacum allows for plasma (low density ofc) to exist for longer periods of time, even without reionization.
      On a side-note, a few semi-stable, neutral compounds do exists that include the noble gas Xenon, mostly Xenonoxides and Xenonflourides.

      • tonybarry December 13, 2013, 4:36 PM

        Hi Magnus,
        Thanks for the reply. I did not consider a plasma, mainly because I assumed the binding energy of AgH+ would be low, and the energy of ionisation would be large. Thus the argon molecule would only exist at low temperatures. The electrostatic forces leading to recombination would be large … but perhaps the radiation flux in the environment makes up for the (lower) thermal energy.

        Tony Barry

        • magnus.nyborg December 14, 2013, 4:37 AM

          Neutral ArH (Ag is silver) would be immediately dissociated due to binding energy being to low. But the charge is maintained by the H+ (a proton) who simply finds itself in a position where there are electrons closeby (the outermost electron shell of Ar), and become attached due to the electrostatic charge acting on a nearby electron, the positive nucleus of Ar being further away. This is quite common in space, where a number of ‘impossible’ molecules are formed as a result of them being charged (HeH+, HeH-, NeH+ etc). Those all dissociate the instant they become neutralised by a nearby free electron.

          • tonybarry December 14, 2013, 4:56 AM

            Thank you Magnus.
            Yes, Ag is silver. My bad.

  • Bill Senkus December 13, 2013, 5:55 PM

    Can someone explain this sentence to me, please:

    “When it comes to a star, they are hot and ignite the visible spectrum.”
    I assume “they” refers to argon hydride ions, but from there on I am lost.