'Cosmic barometer' may unravel ancient violent events in space

Scientists have developed a way of reading the universe's 'cosmic barometer' to learn more about ancient violent events in space.
Exploding stars, random impacts involving comets and meteorites, and even near misses between two bodies can create regions of great heat and high pressure.
Researchers from Imperial College London have now created a method for analysing the pressure experienced by tiny samples of organic material that may have been ejected from dying stars before making a long journey through the cosmos.
They investigated a type of aromatic hydrocarbon called dimethylnaphthalene, which should enable them to identify violent events in the history of the universe.

Samples of dimethylnaphthalene are found in meteorites. Previously, scientists have only had the ability to investigate how they have been affected by heat.
Researchers said their method for detecting periods when dimethylnaphthalenes have experienced high pressure will now allow for a much more comprehensive analysis of organic materials.

"The ability to detect high pressure environments in space has tremendous implications for our ability to learn more about the formation of our solar system and the universe," Dr Wren Montgomery, the study co-author, said.
"Dimethylnaphthalenes are like microscopic barometers and thermometers recording changes in pressure and heat as they travel through space. Understanding these changes lets us probe their history, and with that, the history of the galaxy," said Montgomery.

Researchers placed a sample of dimethylnaphthalene, the width of a human hair, between the vice like grip of two anvils made out of gem-quality diamonds.
They then applied pressure, recreating the type of high pressure environment that dimethylnaphthalene could experience in space.
Using an infrared light from a synchrotron, Montgomery and her colleagues were able to clearly determine the alterations that happen to the molecular structure of dimethylnaphthalene when experiencing high pressure.
By applying different pressures, the team were able to vary the change in the molecular structure of dimethylnaphthalene, giving an insight into how different types of pressures in space would alter the molecular structure of the organic material.

The research appears in The Astrophysical Journal.