Scientists just detected this life-forming molecule in interstellar space for the first time [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Scientists just detected this life-forming molecule in interstellar space for the first time

This is huge!

PETER DOCKRILL
15 JUN 2016


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Colour-composite image of the Galactic Centre and Sagittarius B2, where the chiral molecule was detected. Credit: ESO/APEX & MSX/IPAC/NASA
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For the first time ever, scientists have detected a complex organic molecule called a chiral molecule in the reaches of interstellar space, and the discovery could greatly enhance our understanding of how biological life came to be on Earth – and maybe even life's prospects for evolving elsewhere in the galaxy.

The molecule in question, propylene oxide, was discovered in a gigantic gas cloud called Sagittarius B2, located about 390 light-years from the centre of the Milky Way. Sagittarius B2 has a mass around 3 million times the mass of the Sun, and now we know that this huge conglomeration contains chiral molecules in its midst, which had never previously been detected outside our Solar System.

"This is the first molecule detected in interstellar space that has the property of chirality, making it a pioneering leap forward in our understanding of how prebiotic molecules are made in the Universe and the effects they may have on the origins of life," said chemist Brett McGuire from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia.

Chirality is a geometric property of molecules, where asymmetric molecules display an almost identical chemical composition, but in an altered configuration – much like a mirror image – in what are called left-handed or right-handed versions.

More:
http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-detected-this-life-forming-molecule-in-interstellar-space-for-the-first-time