Overview
- The team identified methanol, acetaldehyde, ethanol, methyl formate and acetic acid frozen in the ice surrounding the young protostar ST6.
- Acetic acid is reported as the first conclusive ice detection in space, and acetaldehyde, ethanol and methyl formate are the first secure ice detections outside the Milky Way.
- JWST’s MIRI medium-resolution spectroscopy was fit with laboratory ice spectra using the ENIIGMA tool to derive ice composition and abundances.
- Spectral features resembling glycolaldehyde were seen, but its presence remains unconfirmed pending further investigation.
- The research, published October 20 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters with NASA support, notes abundance differences from Galactic protostars and plans follow-up observations in the LMC and potentially the SMC.