SPACE/COSMOS
James Webb Space Telescope reveals an exceptional richness of organic molecules in one of the most infrared luminous galaxies in the local Universe
University of Oxford
image:
James Webb Space Telescope Near-infrared Camera (JWST NIRCam) false colour image of IRAS07251-0248, made by combining exposures with the 2 mm (Blue), 2.77 mm (Green) and 3.56 mm (Red) wide filters on NIRCam. Data are part of the observations carried out under JWST GO Programme ID 3368 (P.I. L. Armus). Calibrated data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST.
view moreCredit: Data came from Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, Space Telescope Science Institute, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., NASA.
A recent study, led by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB), CSIC-INTA and using modelling techniques developed at the University of Oxford, has uncovered an unprecedented richness of small organic molecules in the deeply obscured nucleus of a nearby galaxy, thanks to observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The work, published in Nature Astronomy, provides new insights into how complex organic molecules and carbon are processed in some of the most extreme environments in the Universe.
The study focuses on IRAS 07251–0248, an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy whose nucleus is hidden behind vast amounts of gas and dust. This material absorbs most of the radiation emitted by the central supermassive black hole, making it extremely difficult to study with conventional telescopes. However, the infrared wavelength range penetrates the dust and provides unique information about these regions, revealing the dominant chemical processes in this extremely dusty nucleus.
State-of-the-art instruments
The team used spectroscopic observations from the JWST space telescope covering the 3–28 micron wavelength range, combining data from the NIRSpec and MIRI instruments. These observations allow the detection of chemical signatures from gas-phase molecules, as well as features from ices and dust grains. Thanks to these data, the researchers were able to characterize the abundance and temperature of numerous chemical species in the nucleus of this buried galaxy.
The observations reveal an extraordinarily rich inventory of small organic molecules, including benzene (C₆H₆), methane (CH₄), acetylene (C₂H₂), diacetylene (C₄H₂), and triacetylene (C₆H₂), and, detected for the first time outside the Milky Way, the methyl radical (CH₃). In addition to gas-phase molecules, a large abundance of solid molecular materials was found, such as carbonaceous grains and water ices.
“We found an unexpected chemical complexity, with abundances far higher than predicted by current theoretical models,” explains lead author Dr Ismael García Bernete formerly of Oxford University and now a researcher at CAB. “This indicates that there must be a continuous source of carbon in these galactic nuclei fuelling this rich chemical network.”
These molecules could play a key role as fundamental building blocks for complex organic chemistry, of interest for processes relevant to life. Co-author Professor Dimitra Rigopoulou (Department of Physics, University of Oxford) adds: “Although small organic molecules are not found in living cells, they could play a vital role in prebiotic chemistry representing an important step towards the formation of amino acids and nucleotides.”
Factories of organic molecules in the Universe
The analysis, involving techniques and theoretical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) models developed by the Oxford group, suggests that the observed chemistry cannot be explained solely by high temperatures or turbulent gas motions. Instead, the results point to cosmic rays, abundant in these extreme nuclei, as fragmenting PAHs and carbon-rich dust grains, releasing small organic molecules into the gas phase.
The study also finds a clear correlation between hydrocarbon abundance and the intensity of cosmic-ray ionization in similar galaxies, supporting this scenario. These results suggest that deeply obscured galactic nuclei could act as factories of organic molecules, playing a key role in the chemical evolution of galaxies.
This work opens new avenues to study the formation and processing of organic molecules in space extreme environments and demonstrates the enormous potential of JWST to explore regions of the Universe that have remained hidden until now.
In addition to CAB, the following institutions also contributed to this work: Instituto de Física Fundamental (CSIC; M. Pereira-Santaella, M. Agúndez, G. Speranza), University of Alcalá (E. González-Alfonso) and University of Oxford (D. Rigopoulou, F.R. Donnan, N. Thatte).
Notes for editors:
For media enquiries and interview requests, contact Ismael García Bernete (igbernete@cab.inta-csic.es) and Dimitra Rigopoulou (dimitra.rigopoulou@physics.ox.ac.uk)
The study ‘JWST detection of abundant hydrocarbons in a buried nucleus with signs of grain and PAH processing’ will be published in Nature Astronomy at 10 AM GMT / 11 AM CET Friday 6 February at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02750-0 DOI 10.1038/s41550-025-02750-0.
Project funded through the Programa Atracción de Talento Investigador “César Nombela” (grant 2023-T1/TEC-29030) by the Comunidad de Madrid and INTA.
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About CAB
The Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) is a joint research center of INTA and CSIC. Created in 1999, it was the first center in the world dedicated specifically to astrobiological research and the first non-US center associated with the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), currently the NASA Astrobiology Program. It is a multidisciplinary center whose main objective is to study the origin, presence, and influence of life in the universe through a transdisciplinary approach. In 2017, the CAB was awarded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation as a “María de Maeztu” Unit of Excellence.
The CAB has led the development of the REMS, TWINS y MEDA instruments, operational on Mars since August 2012, November 2018, and February 2021, respectively; as well as the science of the RLS and RAX Raman instruments, which will be sent to Mars at the end of this decade as part of the ExoMars mission and to one of its moons in the MMX mission, respectively. In addition, it is developing the SOLID instrument for the search for life in planetary exploration. The CAB also co-leads, together with three other European institutions, the development of the PLATO space telescope, and participates in various missions and instruments of great astrobiological relevance, such as MMX, CARMENES, CHEOPS, BepiColombo, DART, Hera, the MIRI and NIRSpec in JWST, and the HARMONI in ESO’s ELT (Extremely Large Telescope).
Galactic nucleus and hydrocarbon chemistry in IRAS 07251–0248. Left: Schematic of the nucleus, showing a very hot central component (dark red), a warm layer with gas-phase molecules (orange-yellow), and a cold envelope with solid-phase molecules (blue-gray). Right: Conceptual illustration of how cosmic rays process carbonaceous grains and PAHs, generating the observed hydrocarbon-rich chemistry. Credit: García Bernete et al. Nature Astronomy, 2026.
Credit
García Bernete et al. Nature Astronomy, 2026.
Journal
Nature Astronomy
Article Title
JWST detection of abundant hydrocarbons in a buried nucleus with signs of grain and PAH processing’
Article Publication Date
6-Feb-2026
Origami-inspired space structure is compact when launched, expanded in space
University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering
High-powered satellites use electromagnetic waveguides to deliver energy from one component to another. Typically, they are made of heavy, inflexible metal tubes with an even heavier flange on either end, neither of which is ideal for space applications.
Using origami folding techniques as inspiration, Xin Ning and his graduate students at the Department of Aerospace Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed several design concepts for flexible, lightweight waveguides that can be launched in a compact, folded state, then expanded to full size after being deployed into space.
“My former colleague at Penn State, Sven Bilén, is an expert in electromagnetics. I showed him some origami structures I’d been working on a few years ago. He was intrigued and asked if origami could be used for deployable electromagnetic waveguides. We started exploring this idea since then.” said Xin Ning. “Because the most common electromagnetic waveguides are rectangular-shaped, our origami designs needed to maintain a rectangular cross section in the operational state for comparable performance.”
Ning said the simplest rectangular foldable structure he could think of was a brown paper shopping bag. The rectangular bottom portion acts like the flange. Grad students Nikhil Ashok and Sangwoo Suk created a design with two shopping-bag-like sections to obtain a foldable tube and rectangular inlet and outlet for connection to flanges. Using that as a starting point, they developed more advanced origami electromagnetic waveguides shaped like a bellows. Ning said the folding is time consuming, but by the end, both students mastered the skill.
To fabricate the model, the pattern was printed onto large paper, then laminated with kitchen aluminum foil and folded. For use in spacecraft, Ning said they might be 3D printed durable materials, then coated with more durable high-quality commercial materials such as Kapton and metal laminates.
He said they didn’t choose random cross sections or lengths. Instead, they modeled their structures based on commercial designs so they could compare apples to apples.
“With the first bellows shape, we knew we had a foldable, deployable design that could perform, but we wanted to explore more possibilities with origami principles. We needed to find other designs that could twist and bend as it unfurls at the right angle and the right distance between the flanges. These new designs were more complicated, so we simulated the model to try different distances and angles and achieve a 90-degree twist from the input to the output,” Ning said.
Ning said everything began experimentally before moving to analytical design models. While testing the twisting, bending model, they ran into a snag.
“After a few inches of easy deployment, it suddenly got stuck and we really wanted to understand why. We spent a lot of time trying to understand the mechanics and analyzing the angle and distance and deriving the equations. We saw that when we stretched the model, the load was initially very low, then it would shoot up. We realized that when it is stretched to the point where the creases are flat, the force could break it.”
Ning said adding more folds to achieve a longer waveguide made it more difficult and longer waveguides would result in more energy loss.
“We finally arrived at the maximum distance we want to carry and designed it to reach that point with just enough units, or folds.”
The team now has a pending patent. And although the team’s design focus was initially for spacecraft, the concept can be applied for waveguides used in naval, electrical and communications systems for transferring microwave energy.
The study, “Shape-morphable origami electromagnetic waveguides,” by Nikhil Ashok, Sangwoo Suk, and Xin Ning from Illinois and Sven G. Bilén from Penn State, is published by Communications Engineering, a journal in Nature’s portfolio. DOI: 10.1038/s44172-025-00539-7
Journal
Communications Engineering
Article Title
Shape-morphable origami electromagnetic waveguides
