NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected the so-called “forbidden” rotational emission of the H₃⁺ ion for the first time, nearly 40 years after its theoretical prediction.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected the so-called “forbidden” rotational emission of the H₃⁺ ion for the first time, nearly 40 years after its theoretical prediction. Observations of HH 168, approximately 2,300 light-years away, revealed 26 previously undetected spectral lines from the triatomic hydrogen ion.
The discovery offers astronomers a new way to investigate energetic gas and chemical processes in star-forming regions.