The role and diversity of fullerenes in space

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The Universe contains a wide variety of carbonaceous molecules and dust grains that are first formed around red giant stars when they eject their outer envelopes into the interstellar medium. This carbonaceous material is further processed, first by intense UV radiation when the hot stellar core is exposed and lights up the surrounding material as a planetary nebula; later by energetic radiation and particles in the interstellar medium. Only the most stable species, such as buckyballs, can survive the rigors of space. Eventually, this material collects in the form of giant molecular clouds in which the next generation of stars and planets are formed – seeded thus with the molecules and dust ejected by red giant stars.