Astronomers have detected the signatures of two complex organic molecules, methanol and acetaldehyde, in starless and prestellar cores of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, a star-forming region located about 440 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Taurus. An artist’s illustration of complex organic molecules in space. Image credit: Jenny Mottar / NASA. Prestellar or starless cores are so-named because while they do not yet contain any...
