Sagittarius B2

Hello!

Before we start, I will start using images from the web (that are public domain) so I can expand my content and write blogs more often. One of the main limiting factors in continuing this blog is taking my own images. Sources (mainly website URL) will be linked below the images.

Today, we'll take a deep dive into the center of our galaxy (around 30,000 light years away) and talk about a giant cloud named Sagittarius B2. And before you ask, it is not the cloud that we are used to. It is a "molecular cloud" floating in space which consists of random dust and molecules. It's not too far from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.

Overall, Sagittarius B2 is just a normal molecular cloud except for one particular detail:

It has alcohol.

Sagittarius B region (includes the cloud)

Not just ethanol (normal alcohol) but it also has vinyl alcohol and methanol (rocket fuel). Along with that, spectroscopy has found traces of ethyl formate, that gives raspberries their flavor.

So, basically we have a space cloud that is 150 light years big holding billions of tons of raspberry rum just floating next to a black hole (Sagittarius A*). That is not something you hear of every day! Even weirder is the fact that Sagittarius B2 also has a organic compound known as butryonitrile, that breaks down into cyanide under the right conditions and also consists of glycine (an amino acid) derivative.

This information might help us in also finding whether life could be possible elsewhere in the universe due to the presence of amino acid derivatives!

And no, you can't drink the alcohol since it is toxic. No one likes drinking methanol and cyanides (I hope so).

Sorry, the blog's a bit short, I have longer blogs in the work!

Image source: https://blogs.nasa.gov/sofia/2021/11/15/sofia-observes-star-formation-near-the-galactic-center/sagb-harris/