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Buckyballs Found in Space

2010, July 27 - 9:12am — Greg Kontos
Features: Current EventsCritical Path Innovation: Materials Science, Space ExplorationInstitutions: Jet propulsion labratory, California Institute of TechnologyMaterials: Buckyballs, C60
Artistic Rendering of Buckball formation in Space (NASA/JPL/Cal Tech)

Buckyballs, a molecule also known as C60 or C70 depending on the number of carbon atoms within the molecule, has been observed forming naturally in space. The buckyballs were discovered in the planetary nebula Tc-1 about 6500 light years away in the constellation Ara. On earth, laboratories have been able to create buckyballs by vaporizing graphite in the presence of helium. Until now the natural occurrence of buckyballs has been theoretical.


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