That durability stems from a simple fact: All the links between
atoms are
single bonds, which are highly stable and difficult to break, explains Zhibin Guan, a chemist at the University
of California, Irvine, who
helped lead the new effort.
The presence
of ozone
helps to explain the detection
of hydroxyl (an unstable molecule
of oxygen with a
single atom of hydrogen) high in planet's atmosphere in 2008 (ESA news releases on ozone, sulfur dioxide, and hydroxyl; Lisa Grossman, New Scientist, October 6, 2011; and Montmessin et al, 2011).