Deadly Cosmic Cocktail in Milky Way Smells Like Rum | WION Podcast

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Welcome to the Weon podcast, where we explore fascinating stories and ideas from various fields. In this episode, we explore a bizarre cosmic cocktail drifting through the Milky Way that reportedly smells like rum and tastes like raspberries, yet exists in one of the deadliest regions in space.

[00:00:21]Hidden deep inside our galaxy, this mysterious cloud is rewriting what scientists know about chemistry in space. Sagittarius B2 is a giant molecular cloud at the center of our galaxy, located roughly 300 light-years from Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

[00:00:42]It smells like rum and tastes like raspberries and is the Milky Way's most prolific stellar nursery. Scientists used the James Space Telescope to look past the thick dust at the galactic center, where they came across some fascinating things.

[00:00:59]Let's take a quick dive into the world of Sagittarius B2, a dense cosmic chemistry lab that has left astronomers amazed.

[00:01:08]The first time Sagittarius B2 revealed itself to be a cocktail of raspberry and rum signature was in 2009.

[00:01:16]It is located about 26,000 to 27,000 light-years away from Earth and 330 to 390 light-years from the galactic center.

[00:01:27]The dense, freezing cloud of gas and dust attracted astronomers who used the IRAM radio telescope in Spain to look for the chemical signatures of complex molecules that might be precursors to life.

[00:01:40]But they ended up making another insightful discovery.

[00:01:44]This region was filled with ethyl formate, or C3H6O2.

[00:01:49]This chemical compound revealed what this center would taste and smell like, raspberries and rum, since this is the exact signature found in the sweet fruit and the alcohol.

[00:02:00]Sagittarius B2 spans 150 light years and all of it is basically a massive reservoir of ethanol, methanol, and propanol.

[00:02:10]This fruity cocktail is not as happy trippy as it sounds. It also contains an extremely lethal concoction of hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Just a quick whiff is lethal enough to kill a human.

[00:02:24]Besides the fun part of alcohol floating around in the cloud, it also has huge scientific implications.

[00:02:31]The discovery of ethyl formate in deep space suggests that the complex organic chemistry needed for life can take shape anywhere and doesn't necessarily need a planet.

[00:02:43]Nooks and crannies of interstellar space could become a cocoon for complex chemicals to form and interact.

[00:02:50]Second, ethyl formate was found alongside other molecules like butyronitrile, a key requirement for the creation of amino acids, which are the building blocks of DNA.

[00:03:02]The center of the Milky Way has been a long-standing astrophysical mystery.

[00:03:07]Despite being heavily stocked with dense molecular gas, its overall star production rate is remarkably low.

[00:03:15]However, Sagittarius B2 is an exception.

[00:03:19]It sits at the center of the galaxy holding a mere 10% of the total gas and yet it is responsible for producing over 50% of its newborn stars.

[00:03:30]Astronomers are trying to understand what makes Sagittarius B2 special.

[00:03:35]The data collected by JWST is being used to model the local magnetic fields, extreme turbulent shock waves, and how intense radiation fields interact to trigger such hyper-efficient stellar collapses while blocking star formation in other regions of the galactic center.

[00:03:55]Thanks for tuning into this incredible story. If this episode resonated with you, don't forget to hit the like and subscribe button for more captivating stories to come.

[00:04:05]Stay tuned.