The purpose of such a quest is to identify specific frequencies, or "lines," at which the signal is either sharply stronger or weaker than the background level. The position and strength of these lines (or "spikes") in the overall spectrum of radiation from an object (or radiation absorbed by the object) are signatures for specific elements and molecules. Analysis of the lines allows scientists to calculate the chemical composition of distant celestial objects.

But identifying and interpreting these lines can be difficult, and in doing this the British team had help from Dr. Frank De Lucia and Dr. Eric Herbst at Ohio State University in Columbus. The American scientists recorded frequency lines obtained in their laboratory by passing microwave radiation through alcohol gas. The results matched lines obtained by the Maxwell Telescope, showing that it was measuring a high concentration of gaseous alcohol, among other substances, in the gas cloud G34.3.

"It looks as if some very interesting surface chemistry is occurring in gas clouds as stars form inside them," Dr. Macdonald said in an interview. Initially, the elements and simple molecular fragments in the gas cloud are so diffuse that reactions between them are practically impossible. But over time, gaseous components condense on the surface of dust grains in the interstellar medium. The condensation, Dr. Macdonald believes, brings elements close enough together that reactions begin, and during a period of about 10,000 years, relatively complex molecules, including alcohol, are created.

"We think that the dust grains drift toward young stars, and as they approach, temperatures rise enough to drive the new compounds off the dust grains and into the gas phase," he said. "That's probably why we're seeing high levels of alcohol in the region close to the star embedded in G34.3."

Ethyl alcohol is not the only compound the scientists have found in G34.3.

"We have identified 32 chemical compounds in that cloud, or about 50 if you count the different isotopic forms of elements in the various compounds. But alcohol is the main one."