For the first time, researchers have discovered a molecule in interstellar space that exhibits chirality: It can exist in two forms that are composed of the same atoms, but are mirror images of each other.
Think of chiral molecules as being like a pair of gloves. Each glove has five fingers and are made of the same material, but you could never slide a left-handed glove over your right hand.
Like opposite hands, chiral molecules are mirror images of each other. (Credit: B. Saxton/Business stock/Shutterstock)
B. Saxton/Business stock/Shutterstock
The amino acids and sugars that make up our bodies are chiral. In particular, amino acids must all be of the left-handed form, while sugars are right-handed. Change the orientation of the same molecule, and it could prove fatal.
In this discovery, reported by Caltech researchers in June, radio telescopes picked up faint traces of the organic compound propylene oxide in a ...
