A sanitizer in the galactic center region!
Iso-propanol, which can be used as an antiseptic, a solvent, or a cleaning agent, has been discovered in interstellar space for the first time, according to research led by Arnaud Belloche of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn. The molecule was found in the massive star-forming region Sagittarius B2, near the centre of our Milky Way. The ALMA telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert is being used to conduct extensive research on the molecular cloud’s chemical composition.
Scientists have been looking for molecules in space for more than 50 years. So far, astronomers have discovered 276 molecules in the interstellar medium. With the arrival of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) ten years ago, it became possible to go beyond what a single-dish telescope could achieve toward Sgr B2, and a long-term study of Sgr B2’s chemical composition was initiated.
ALMA observations have resulted in the discovery of three new organic molecules since 2014. (isopropyl cyanide, N-methylformamide, and urea). The most recent discovery is the detection of propanol.
Propanol is an alcohol that has been detected in interstellar space as the largest molecule in this class. The ALMA data set detected two propanol isomers in Sgr B2: isopropanol in the interstellar medium and normal-propanol in a star-forming region.
Detecting and measuring the abundance ratio of closely related molecules that differ slightly in structure allows researchers to probe specific parts of the chemical reaction network that leads to their production in the interstellar medium.
“The ALMA spectrum of Sgr B2 contains many unidentified spectral lines, indicating that much work remains to be done to determine its chemical composition. In the near future, the expansion of the ALMA instrumentation will likely help us to reduce the spectral confusion and possibly allow the identification of additional organic molecules in this spectacular source,” said Karl Menten, Director at Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.
