Washington– For the first time, scientists have discovered frozen complex organic compounds—the basic chemical building blocks of life—beyond our Milky Way galaxy. These compounds, including ethanol, acetaldehyde, methyl formate, and acetic acid, were found trapped in ice surrounding a newly forming star.
Prior to this discovery, such compounds had never been observed in frozen form outside the Milky Way. Led by astrophysicist Dr. Marta Cevielo, a team from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland made the breakthrough. According to them, this finding indicates that the chemical components necessary for life are widespread in the universe and not limited to our galaxy.
Complex organic compounds are chemicals that contain at least six atoms, including carbon. They are considered precursors to the fundamental structures of life, such as amino acids, sugars, and nucleic acids. Their presence in space helps scientists understand how and where the chemical foundations of life may have formed even before Earth existed.
The discovery was made in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), located about 160,000 light-years from our galaxy. The LMC has an environment very different from the Milky Way, with fewer heavy metals and higher levels of radiation. Despite these harsh conditions, the formation of organic compounds in ice suggests that the essential components of life can form even under extreme cosmic environments.
