Mysterious "Alcohol Cloud" Discovered at the Center of Our Galaxy

Jan 05, 2025 Komal Das

British scientists found an interstellar gas cloud with enough alcohol to make 400 trillion-trillion pints of beer

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The G34.3 cloud, 10,000 light-years away, contains enough alcohol for 400 trillion-trillion pints, offering insights into star formation

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Ethyl alcohol was first found in space in 1975. The latest discovery reveals the largest amount ever detected

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The study used the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii to capture submillimeter-wave signals between 330 and 360 gigahertz

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The goal is to identify frequencies that reveal elements and molecules, helping scientists analyze distant objects' chemical makeup

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Dr. De Lucia and Dr. Herbst confirmed gaseous alcohol in G34.3, along with 32 other compounds, using Maxwell Telescope data

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