Water and methanol are key components of interstellar ices and gas in star- and planet-forming regions, but direct observations of water in low-mass protostars are challenging due to atmospheric absorption.
Methanol, the simplest complex organic molecule found in space, is considered a key compound necessary for the formation of chemical species of prebiotic interest. Methanol detections in protoplanetary disks remain […]
Comet 3I/ATLAS continues to make astonishing headlines, thanks to new findings from astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy […]
We present the first astrophysical detection of methanol (CH3OH) in the torsional band near 25 um.
CfA astronomers have helped discover rare types of methanol, a building block required for life as we know it to form.
Formaldehyde (H2CO) and methanol (CH3OH) have served as traditional tracers of the star formation process for decades. Studies of the environments which produce these species, though, have pointed to significant […]
The notion of liquid water beneath the ice layer at the south polar layered deposits (SPLD) of Mars is an interesting possibility given the implications for astrobiology and possible human […]
Methanol (CH3OH) and formaldehyde (H2CO) are chemically coupled organic molecules proposed to act as an intermediate step between simple molecules and more complex prebiotic compounds.
Formaldehyde is a key precursor in the formation routes of many complex organic molecules (COMs) in space. It is also an intermediate step in CO hydrogenation sequence that leads to […]
A rich inventory of complex organic molecules (COMs) has been observed in high abundances in the gas phase toward Class 0 protostars. These molecules are suggested to be formed in […]
