Discovery of aromatics in interstellar cloud shakes up astrochemistry
Two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules found in a cold, dark space suggests they are more widespread than was thought
A team of scientists in the US has detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a cold, dark interstellar cloud for the first time. The discovery challenges scientific consensus that PAHs only form in the hot atmospheres of dying stars.