Charged football-like molecules found in space for 1st time

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has helped confirm the presence of electrically charged version of football-like molecules called "Buckminsterfullerene" in the interstellar medium (ISM) for the first time. The molecule comprises 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in a hollow sphere. It gets ionized when ultraviolet light from stars tears off an electron from it, giving it a positive charge, NASA said.