Astronomers make most distant detection yet of fluorine in star-forming galaxy

A new discovery is shedding light on how fluorine--an element found in bones and teeth as fluoride--is forged in the universe. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, a team of astronomers have detected this element in a galaxy that is so far away its light has taken over 12 billion years to reach us. This is the first time fluorine has been spotted in such a distant star-forming galaxy.