What is the most significant result of this study?

The Keck machine at the University of Hawaii is designed for investigation of astrophysical analogue ices and minerals exposed to ionizing radiation. Here, we prepared thin layers of silane–carbon monoxide ices on a cold (5.5 K) substrate. Upon exposure of these ices to energetic electrons and sublimation of the newly formed molecules, single photon ionization coupled with a reflectron time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer (PI‐ReTOF‐MS) was exploited. In the present case, the formation of the silylketene [(H 3 SiC(H)=C=O)] molecule is not only interesting because of its potential astrophysical relevance, but also since this species represents a novel, reactive organosilicon molecule, which has not been synthetized so far by standard procedures.