HeH+

Found at Last — The First Molecule in the Universe

The Cosmic Companion

Apr 18

Helium hydride, a molecule consisting of hydrogen and helium, was the first molecule to be created in the Universe, but it has never been seen in space until now. Researchers searching for this molecule for decades have finally found evidence of it in a distant planetary nebula.

Just 100,000 years after the big bang, hydrogen and helium combined into the first molecule, helium hydride (HeH+). Researchers believed they should still be able to see this material out in space, but this finding marks the first time this ancient molecule has been found in the modern Universe. This discovery not only proves this helium hydride can exist in space, but also confirms theories of chemistry in the earliest era of matter in the Cosmos.