The detection of yet more alcohol in a giant molecular cloud near the centre of our galaxy could give clues to the origin of complex organic molecules in space.

Astronomers have long been seeking evidence of this particular alcohol to help explain how these life-promoting substances got started.

"The discovery of vinyl alcohol is significant," said Barry Turner, one of the staff scientists at the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory who made the discovery.

"It gives us an important tool for understanding the formation of complex organic compounds in interstellar space," he said. "It may also help us better understand how life might arise elsewhere in the cosmos."

Galactic heart

Vinyl alcohol, actually a non-inebriating complex organic molecule, is an important part of many chemical reactions on Earth, and the last of the three stable members of the C 2 H 4 O group of molecules to be discovered in interstellar space.

It was detected in a massive molecular cloud called Sagittarius B2, located 26,000 light-years from Earth, near the centre of our galaxy.



