Astronomers have found an unusual carbon-based molecule 27,000 light-years from Earth that could hint at the origins of life. The observations indicate molecules of isopropyl cyanide, a common feature in life-essential molecules like amino acids, are produced early in a star’s formation. If true it would suggest some of the building blocks of life on Earth may have originated elsewhere in space before being carried here. Researchers led by Cornell University in New York have found evidence for the origins of life in a star-forming region of interstellar space called Sagittarius B2 (shown). They found molecules of isopropyl cyanide near the centre of the Milky Way. This complex molecule is a common feature in other life-essential molecules
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Researchers led by Cornell University in New York have found evidence for the origins of life in a star-forming region of interstellar space
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They found molecules of isopropyl cyanide near the centre of the Milky Way
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This complex molecule is a common feature in other life-essential molecules
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Its discovery suggests that some of the building blocks of life may form in such star-forming regions
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This would mean the molecules are brought to Earth through some process, perhaps by meteorites
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Discovery was made using the Alma observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert
The purpose of the @placeholder is to search for cosmic origins through an array of 66 sensitive radio antennas from the high elevation and dry air of northern Chile’s Atacama Desert.