Question

Astronomers were at first surprised to find complicated molecules in the interstellar medium. They thought ultra-violet light from stars would break apart such molecules. What protects the molecules we observe from being broken apart?A. such molecules form in cells, and there is a protective membrane around each cellB. such molecules always form inside stars; the stars outer layers protect themC. such molecules form in clouds that contain significant amounts of dust, and the dust in the cloud protects them from ultra-violet raysD. such molecules form only in the regions that are already millions of degrees hot and thus can’t be affected by ultra-violet raysE. you can’t fool me; the seeming discovery of complex molecules out there was a mistake, and astronomers now realize there are no molecules out there.

Answer 1

The objects that protects the molecules observed from being broken apart is option C;

Such molecules form in clouds that contain significant amount of dust, and the dust in the cloud protects them from ultra-violet rays

Step-by-step explanation:

The existence of high energy cosmic and ultraviolet radiation is capable of breaking molecules present within translucent clouds in the interstellar medium.

However, when the light is passed through translucent clouds that are several light years thick or through non-transparent clouds interactions with the gases and dusts result in changes in the starlight that reaches a certain distance such as Earth

Therefore, the formation and presence of such molecules in clouds that are made up of dust serves to protect them from being broken by the high energy ultraviolet rays from the stars.