Western astronomers show new image of cosmic 'buckyball' beginnings

James Webb Space Telescope shows structure of planetary nebula linked to carbon molecules

A unique soccer ball-shaped molecule helps scientists understand stars' life and death

Western University astronomers studied a distant cloud of gas and dust called Tc 1, where 'buckyballs' form, using the James Webb Space Telescope, 15 years after first detecting them beyond Earth, and found a vivid new look

Planetary nebulae form when stars shed outer layers into space, and Tc 1 has buckminsterfullerene, a molecule made of 60 carbon atoms in a hollow sphere

The 2010 discovery using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope confirmed complex carbon molecules can form naturally in space

New James Webb telescope images and data show Tc 1 in detail, with glowing gas in different colours, hotter regions in blue, cooler material in red, delicate filaments, shells, and a mysterious upside-down question mark structure near the centre

'Tc 1 was extraordinary as it showed buckyballs exist in space, but this new image shows we had only scratched the surface,' said Jan Cami, 'the structures we're seeing now are breathtaking, and raise as many questions as they answer'

London amateur astronomer and high school teacher Katelyn Beecroft processed the buckyball image, invited for her skill in extracting subtle structures from telescope data, and she was part of the research

The new data includes detailed chemical 'fingerprints' that could help explain how these molecules form and shine brightly

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