Spherical Molecules of Carbon floating in Space ANIMATION by NASA JPL Caltech

This artist&animation illustrates vibrating buckyballs -- spherical molecules of carbon discovered in space for the first time by NASA&Spitzer Space Telescope. These molecules jiggle, shimmy and shake in a variety of ways -- 174 to be exact. Four of these vibrational modes cause the molecules to either absorb or generate infrared light. Thanks to these jiggles, Spitzer&infrared vision was able to detect the long-sought signatures of buckyballs in space. Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech