Astronomers Discover Precious Element In Space

A rare gas present 4000 light years away from earth has recently been detected by a team of astronomers. The discovery was made with the largest antenna of NASA's Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex, which measures 70 meters in diameter. The equipment helped the scientists know more about the element and history of Helium-3, which is a rare gas.

The international research team who made the discovery comprised of astronomers from the University of Manchester UK, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Deep Space Network and Centro de Astrobiología Spain. The rare gas was found to have the potential of being used in nuclear fusion power plants as fuel in the future, apart from being important for medical imaging and cryogenics techniques. The presence of Helium-3 is rare on our planet; therefore it is created in nuclear labs at an exorbitant price. It is believed that Moon has a substantial quantity of the gas, and many governments around the globe have indicated their intention to travel to the satellite to mine it, which could herald a new space race.The researching team of astronomers detected an unexpectedly high amount of the gas in a planetary nebula located 4000 light years away from Earth, the quantity was found to be almost 500 times higher than its relative percentage on our planet. The discovery proved that Helium-3 is produced at the centre of Sun-like stars, which expel it into space at the end of their life. It is still unknown how such a large amount was present in the planetary nebula, and scientists have speculated that its ejecting star may have been more productive than the model the research was based on. However, the more productive theory implies the presence of more Helium-3 in the Universe, than has been found now, because such a behavior would be valid for all stars.  At the moment, further research about the gas and its presence is reportedly needed, and an international project called Square Kilometer Array, which will be the world's most sensitive and largest radio telescope, is being developed to study it.