In a finding that could change how scientists understand the spread of life’s ingredients across space, astronomers have detected large organic molecules frozen in ice around a forming star called ST6 in a galaxy beyond the Milky Way.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the research team identified five carbon-based compounds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, our closest neighboring galaxy. The study, led by University of Maryland and NASA scientist Marta Sewilo, was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters on October 20, 2025.
