Buckyballs in space, conceptual image. Computer illustration of buckminsterfullerene molecules (buckyballs) in space. Buckminsterfullerene is a structurally distinct form (allotrope) of carbon that has 60 carbon atoms arranged in a spherical structure consisting of interlinking hexagonal and pentagonal rings, like a football. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected the solid form of these buckyballs in space for the first time. To form a solid particle they must stack together as shown here. The discovery implies that the little carbon spheres are prevalent in certain stellar regions of the cosmos.