Research report 2003 - Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
The search for biomolecules in the interstellar medium
Authors
Menten, Karl M.
Departments
Millimeter- und Submillimeter-Astronomie (Prof. Dr. Karl Menten)
MPI für Radioastronomie, Bonn
Summary
The availability of innovative detectors at the world's most powerful radio and (sub)millimeter telescopes has opened new vistas in the search for complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium. In particular, in the dense, warm envelopes of luminous protostars one detects ever more complex chemical compounds. The neighborhood of our Galactic center, which is filled with dense, hot molecular clouds, is of special interest: Here one detects a greater variety of such molecules than anywhere else.