Scientists have detected for the first time ever, evidence of an interstellar molecule located some 28,000 light years from Earth. This is also considered the most complex organic molecule to be detected in space.

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This molecule found floating in interstellar space is known as propylene oxide which can also provide better understanding of the early origins of life in the universe, especially the basic building blocks of life.

Scientists from Caltech (California Institute of Technology) also claim that this is also the first most complex molecule found outside the solar system, that can provide new, essential insights about biology.

Apparently, organic molecules also possess a duality even if they appear the same or possess similar properties, that is comparable to humans who are left and right handed. This property is known as "chirality", where scientists are still trying to decipher why most molecules on Earth are more leaning to the left.

This new study is being heralded as a milestone in understanding prebiotic molecules and how they can greatly affect the origins of life. Scientists first detected chiral molecules in comets that are located inside the solar system and even meteorites that reached Earth. These new findings however, reveal their true nature as they are found in interstellar space for the first time.

According to Caltech's Geoffrey Blake, these past few years, the detection of exoplanets revealed that there could even be millions of star systems similar to our solar system, with similar environments as well, where young stars are giving birth to new planets. Upon the detection of propylene oxide, this can lead to clues about interstellar prebiotic chemistry and how this can produce cosmic seeds of life.

More specifically, this propylene oxide was discovered inside a massive star forming dust cloud of gas in the core of the Milky Way with the Green Bank Telescope Prebiotic Interstellar Molecular Survey (PRIMOS) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).

Molecular structures can biologically form either towards the left or right and from there, they build complex structures from this congruence, where the detection of propylene oxide in space can provide more clues in determining how this molecular handedness emerges in the first place.

For example, biomoleculars like sugar along those DNA molecules lean towards the right, where amino acids that form protein are left handed, as this interstellar molecule can demystify how the ingredients of life in our solar system were formed. To date, there are about 180 molecules detected in space, where they give off distinct vibrations that are detected by radio telescopes.

This new study is published  in the journal Science.

Tagsinterstellar molecule, origin of life, organic molecule, propylene oxide, chiral molecules