A fantastic new discovery has given astronomy an unexpected window into the formation of life-precursor molecules in an environment significantly different from our galaxy, the Milky Way. Scientists report the first-ever detection of Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) – potential "building blocks" of life – in ice outside of our galaxy.

The detection comes from the surroundings of a young star called ST6 located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the largest of the satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. It's so large and close that it can be seen with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.

University of Maryland and NASA research scientist Dr Marta Sewilo and her team used observations by JWST to study the presence of COMs in the ice around ST6. They detected five: alcohols methanol and ethanol, as well as methyl formate, acetaldehyde, and even acetic acid, the main component of vinegar. This is the first time acetic acid has been conclusively detected in space. 

“This is the first detection of COMs larger than six atoms in ices (in ice mantles on dust grains) outside the galaxy,” Dr Sewilo told IFLScience.

The LMC is very different from our galaxy. Stars and nebulae there have a lower percentage of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, so fewer building blocks for complex molecules and dust grains. There is also a lot more ultraviolet light. In certain respects, the LMC is similar to a primitive Milky Way, so this provides crucial insight into the formation of COMs in earlier epochs of the universe.

COMs are seen as precursors to life molecules. It is not a sign of life, but the molecules that make us and every living creature on this planet had to come from somewhere. Their integral parts likely formed in space and eventually found their way to Earth. In this new work, the team actually found signs of a lot more than those five, but they have not been able to classify all of them.