What odors can we really feel in house? | EUROtoday

On May 30, 2025

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L’house just isn’t odorless. Beyond spatial silence, the cosmos is definitely a world of peculiar odors. From ammonia hints to steel perfumes, every planet and every star have a novel olfactory id. Deciphering these odors permits scientists to research cosmic chemistry and doubtlessly detect indicators of life past the earth.

“Many of the space of space are familiar to us on earth,” says Marina Barcenilla in an interview with the BBC. Scientist, creator of perfumes and doctoral college students in astrobiology, the younger girl aspires to convey the infinitely giant of our each day expertise nearer. In the consolation of her laboratory, on the University of Westminster in London, she recreates the perfumes of house from scientific information, reworking advanced equations into concrete odors. His work, on the crossroads of science and artwork, makes it potential to make spatial exploration tangible.

Read too A glowing cosmic “firefly” reveals the secrets and techniques of the primary galaxies of the universeThe analyzes carried out by Marina Barcenilla reveal a universe the place every star has its fragrance. Jupiter, the glowing large, “is a bit like a stinking bomb,” she tells, all the time on the BBC. The ammonia reigns there, accompanied by sulfur and natural molecules. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, could be distinguished by scents of almond, petrol and fish. And within the borders of the galaxy, sure exoplanets might really feel the cabbage or the rotten eggs.

A cosmic shade chart: sulfur, raspberry and oil

Ammonia (urine), hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) and hydrocarbons (oil, plastic) dominate the spatial olfactory shade chart. The ethyl formiator, typically related to raspberry, brings a softer contact. “When the stars die, combustion creates the same kind of molecules as when burning your food,” popularizes Barcenilla, connecting astronomy to our kitchens.

In order to determine these molecules to billions of kilometers, scientists depend on methods reminiscent of spectroscopy. The latter gives data on celestial objects that aren’t perceptible to optical pictures. The mild emitted and absorbed by atmospheres informs concerning the chemical composition of those.

Read too Solar system: the enigma of oxygen lastly resolvedBy making the hyperlink with the smells of those similar molecules on earth, they will reconstruct the olfactory palette of house. Spatial telescopes, reminiscent of James-Webb, have additionally made it potential to detect carbon dioxide on the WASP-39B exoplanet, and even dim-18b dimethylsulfure, a molecule produced on earth by marine plankton.

Odors of life?

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But the olfactory expertise of house just isn’t restricted to principle. The astronauts themselves bear witness to surprising scents. Helen Sharman, first Briton to have stayed in house remembers: “After an outing, the smell reminded me that of a welding workshop, this metal perfume in the air,” she tells the BBC. This phenomenon is defined by atomic oxygen, glued to the combos of astronauts, which types ozone (O3) in touch with the air of the station, releasing this attribute odor.

Beyond a easy curiosity, the examine of the odors of house opens up new views for spatial exploration. By figuring out particular molecules, scientists can higher perceive the coaching of planets, the evolution of atmospheres and chemical processes at work within the universe. Some of those molecules, reminiscent of dimethylsulfure, organic marker on earth, might represent treasured biosignatures, oblique clues of the presence of life elsewhere.

https://www.lepoint.fr/astronomie/quelles-odeurs-peut-on-sentir-dans-l-espace-29-05-2025-2590800_1925.php