Spotting the first type of molecule
SOFIA made news in 2019 by finding evidence of the universe’s first atomic bond: helium hydride. The Boeing 747 found traces of the nascent molecule within NGC 7027, a planetary nebula located 3,000 light-years away.
Only a few types of atoms existed during the earliest phases of the universe. Approximately 100,000 years after the Big Bang, helium and hydrogen combined to make helium hydride, making it the first molecule to take shape in the universe. At least that was the theory, but SOFIA provided the needed evidence. As NASA said in a 2019 statement, the finding “confirms a key part of our basic understanding of the chemistry of the early universe and how it evolved over billions of years into the complex chemistry of today.”
