S. Martín

In a cold gas cloud right at the center of our Galaxy, designated G+0.693-0.027, hides a true chemical laboratory. There, far from stars, on the surfaces of tiny dust grains, about the size of smoke particles, atoms stick together into molecules, like dough on a kitchen counter.

In dark, cold clouds of interstellar gas, astronomers have for several years been spotting aromatic molecules — compounds built around a benzene ring (a hexagon of carbon atoms), like the benzene we know. One such substance, benzonitrile (benzene with a cyano group attached), had only been found in very calm and cold places, like the Taurus cloud.