James Webb telescope reveals surprisingly rich organic chemistry beyond the Milky Way

James Webb NIRCam) false colour image of IRAS07251-0248 (Image credit: Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, Space Telescope Science Institute, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., NASA.)

doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02750-0
Credibility: 989
#organic molecules

Astronomers using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (James Webb) have just discovered an impressive amount of small organic molecules in an extreme location in the universe: the deeply hidden core of a nearby galaxy called IRAS 07251-0248

This galaxy is an ultraluminous infrared galaxy, meaning it shines brightly in infrared light due to the enormous amounts of gas and dust surrounding its center, obscuring it from the view of most ordinary telescopes.

What makes this discovery special is that the James Webb was able to “see” through this curtain of dust thanks to its ability to observe in the infrared.

Using the NIRSpec and MIRI instruments, scientists analyzed light between 3 and 28 micrometers and identified clear chemical signatures of various molecules in the gas, ice, and dust grains.

Among them are benzene (C”H”), methane (CH”), acetylene (C”H”), diacetylene (C”H”), triacetylene (C”H”), and, for the first time outside our Milky Way galaxy, the methyl radical (CH”), a highly reactive carbon molecule.

What surprised the team most was that the quantity of these molecules is much greater than any theoretical model predicted.

It seems that cosmic rays-high-energy particles that traverse space-are hitting carbon-rich grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (the famous PAHs), fragmenting these structures and releasing a cascade of organic compounds.

Instead of extreme temperatures or gaseous turbulence destroying everything, these cosmic rays end up fueling intense and continuous chemistry, transforming the galaxy’s core into a veritable cosmic factory of organic molecules.

Although these tiny molecules are not life itself, they are fundamental building blocks for prebiotic chemistry-the processes that, under the right conditions, can lead to the formation of amino acids, nucleotides, and other substances essential for the origin of life.

This suggests that hidden galactic nuclei like this one may play an important role in the chemical evolution of entire galaxies, spreading organic ingredients throughout the cosmos.

The research, led by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB) in Spain and with significant contributions from the University of Oxford to the theoretical models, was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The results show that, even in hostile and extreme environments, carbon chemistry can be surprisingly rich and active.

This discovery opens new doors to understanding how complex molecules arise and spread throughout the universe and reinforces how much the James Webb Space Telescope is revolutionizing our knowledge of the basic ingredients of life in distant and hidden locations in space.

Published in 02/28/2026 01h34

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Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.

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