An article published in the journal “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the discovery of the presence of salts and in particular of the ordinary table salt, in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star Orion Source I. A team of astronomers used the ALMA radio telescope to detect the “chemical signatures” that indicate the presence of a number of molecules including two salts. In particular, sodium chloride seems to make up a considerable part of the disk given that the estimated mass is around one sextillion kilograms, more or less equivalent to the water of the Earth’s oceans.

An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports the discovery of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the protoplanetary disk of the star V883 Orionis, or simply V883 Ori. A team of researchers led by Jeong-Eun Lee of Kyung Hee University, South Korea, used the ALMA radio telescope to detect the “chemical signatures” of compounds such as methanol, acetaldehyde, methyl formate, acetonitrile and acetone after a sudden outburst caused the snow line to move causing the sublimation of frozen materials and the consequent release of those compounds.