- Original Caption Released with Image:
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This artist's concept illustrates a solar system that is a much younger
version of our own. Dusty disks, like the one shown here circling the
star, are thought to be the breeding grounds of planets, including rocky
ones like Earth. Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope spotted
some of the raw ingredients for DNA and protein in one such disk belonging
to a star called IRS 46. The ingredients, gaseous precursors to DNA and
protein called acetylene and hydrogen cyanide, were detected in the star's
inner disk, the region where scientists believe Earth-like planets would
be most likely to form.
- Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL-Caltech
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