1 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,520 Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks Revealed 2 00:00:13,140 --> 00:00:18,100 Phosphorus is essential for life, but how it arrived on Earth is a mystery. 3 00:00:18,860 --> 00:00:26,100 Astronomers have traced the journey of phosphorus from regions where new stars and planetary systems form to comets. 4 00:00:27,660 --> 00:00:34,480 Using ALMA to look into a star-forming region they revealed how and where phosphorus-bearing molecules form. 5 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:43,800 They also found that the main carrier of phosphorus is the molecule phosphorus monoxide. 6 00:00:46,580 --> 00:00:52,400 The team then turned to comet 67P. Comets are thought to have delivered life-essential molecules to Earth. 7 00:00:53,260 --> 00:00:59,780 Using data from the ROSINA instrument on board ESA’s Rosetta, the team found phosphorus monoxide on a comet for the first time. 8 00:01:01,340 --> 00:01:07,820 The study reveals an interstellar thread of phosphorus where phosphorus monoxide plays the lead role... 9 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:18,120 ...from star-forming regions to comets and eventually planets like Earth where life can begin. 10 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,160 Transcription by ESO; translation by —