(CNN) When the universe formed during the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, the chemical reactions of the aftermath formed the first molecules. Those first molecules were crucial in helping form everything we know, but they're also absent.

And although HeH+, the helium hydride ion, has been proposed for years as that first molecule, scientists couldn't find any evidence of its existence in space -- until now. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature

After the Big Bang, HeH+ formed in a molecular bond when helium atoms and protons combined. Later, these would break apart into hydrogen molecules and helium atoms. Both elements are the two most abundant throughout the universe, with hydrogen first and helium second.

Scientists were able to demonstrate the molecular ion in a lab in 1925 and study it, which sparked a decades-long search for HeH+ in space.

"The chemistry of the universe began with HeH+. The lack of definitive evidence of its very existence in interstellar space has been a dilemma for astronomy for a long time," said Rolf Güsten, study author and astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, in a statement.

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