section_path: Occurrence and production/Astronomical detection
section_name: Astronomical detection
paragraph_text: Astronomical detection
  
  Dimethyl sulfide has been detected in comets, which indicates non-living sources are available. It has also been synthesized abiotically in the laboratory. For comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency sampled the cloud of dust and gas shed from the comet. Dimethyl sulfide has also been made abiotically in laboratories using prebiotic conditions. These comet-based discoveries contradict the suggestion that dimethyl sulfide is an indicator of life on other planets.
  
  The James Webb Space Telescope has possibly detected evidence of DMS in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b.
  
  On September 12, 2023, NASA announced that their investigation into exoplanet K2-18b revealed the possible presence of dimethyl sulfide, noting "On Earth, this is only produced by life."