Exotic Methanol Discovered in Young Protostars

Prof. Dr. Maria N. Drozdovskaya, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern
Photo Credit: © University of Bern, Image: Vera Knöpfel

Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Interstellar Methanol in Protostellar Systems

The Core Concept: Complex organic molecules, specifically standard and fully deuterated methanol, are forming within the dense gas and dust clouds surrounding young, low-mass protostars.

Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike previous observations that limited methanol maser emissions strictly to high-mass protostars, recent data reveals these emissions are abundant around low-mass, Sun-like stars, indicating that locally extreme physical conditions also prevail in these early environments.

Origin/History: The discoveries were published in 2026 by the international COMPASS (Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys) project, which utilized the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the chemical composition of eleven nearby protostars.

Major Frameworks/Components:

• The detection of methanol maser emissions, which act as distinctive radio signals, in the precursors of relatively light, Sun-like stars.
• The first-ever interstellar discovery of fully deuterated methanol (CD₃OD), a rare variant where all hydrogen atoms are replaced by the heavy isotope deuterium, surrounding the protostar IRAS 4A2 in the Perseus molecular cloud.
• The use of high-performance spectroscopic measurements to analyze the transfer of chemical diversity from molecular clouds to planetary systems.

Branch of Science: Molecular Astrophysics, Astrochemistry, and Astronomy.

Future Application: The collected dataset will guide future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and help refine chemical evolution models for protoplanetary disks, comets, and emerging exoplanets.

Why It Matters: Identifying a sophisticated chemical starter kit in the early stages of stellar evolution is a crucial step in understanding how the organic building blocks of life are preserved or transformed, ultimately shedding light on the origins of habitable planetary systems.

The Perseus molecular cloud is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth. A rare form of the organic alcohol methanol is present around at least one of the very young stars still embedded within it. The molecule has been detected in space for the first time ever in the current study.
Image Credits: © Ekaterina Moerova / MPIfR; Background: NASA, CXC, SSC, NOAO, DSS; 3D image of methanol: NIH

In space, new stars and planetary systems form amid a dense chemical mixture. An international research team co-led by the University of Bern has now demonstrated, through the large-scale COMPASS project at the ALMA Observatory, that young, Sun-like stars are surrounded by a surprisingly rich “chemical starter kit”—including methanol in previously unexpected forms and abundances. The results provide new insights into how early chemical processes might shape the subsequent formation of planets—and possibly life.

In the depths of our galaxy, new stars and planets are forming, accompanied by a multitude of chemical substances. Organic molecules, which are considered potential building blocks of life, also form within vast clouds of gas and ice-covered dust. Exactly how this molecular diversity arises, how it varies from star system to star system, and how it shapes young planetary systems remain largely unknown.

This is where the major international project COMPASS (Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys) comes in. Under the co-leadership of Professor Maria N. Drozdovskaya from the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Bern, the team is using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)—the world’s most powerful ground-based telescope, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert—to study the formation of complex organic molecules in the environments of young stars. The first scientific results are now available: In seven articles published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, the team demonstrates that young, still-forming stars—so-called protostars—are surrounded by a surprisingly sophisticated “chemical starter kit,” including organic molecules such as methanol, which may later be found in the forming planets. In addition, a rare, heavy form of methanol has been detected around a protostar for the first time.

The increasing heat from young forming stars heats their surroundings and reveals molecules that are formed as ices by releasing them into the gas. In this study, a rare form of methanol has been detected for the first time in space with all four of its hydrogen atoms substituted with deuterium. Moreover, it shows that methanol maser emission around low-mass protostars is much more widespread than previously thought.
Image Credit: © Angèle Taillard / Univ Toulouse / IRAP

Alcohol in Space

COMPASS is using ALMA to study 11 nearby, Sun-like protostars in unprecedented detail. The goal is to understand how chemical diversity is transferred from the massive gas and dust clouds into young planetary systems—all the way to Earth-like planets. More than 30 researchers from Europe, North America, and Asia are involved in the project; the University of Bern is represented by the research group led by Maria Drozdovskaya, who specializes in molecular astrophysics and is the project’s co-founder and co-principal investigator. Molecular astrophysics at the University of Bern is unique in Switzerland and is emerging as a key pillar of this research.

Several of the initial COMPASS results pertain to methanol, the simplest alcohol, which plays a central role in the formation of larger organic molecules. The researchers have succeeded in detecting so-called methanol maser emission—distinctive radio signals from methanol molecules—in more than half of the protostars studied. This methanol maser emission is unexpected in low-mass protostars—that is, the precursors of relatively light, Sun-like stars. Until now, it had only been observed in high-mass protostars, which are the precursors of very massive, much more energetic stars. “The fact that it has now also been found in a low-mass protostar shows that locally extreme physical conditions can prevail there analogously to massive stars, and challenges our previous understanding of the formation of Sun-like stars,” says Drozdovskaya. The results suggest that methanol maser emission around low-mass protostars is much more widespread than previously thought and represents a common feature of the early stages of protostellar evolution.

At the same time, COMPASS succeeded in detecting a “heavy” variant of methanol in space for the first time: fully deuterated methanol (CD₃OD), in which all hydrogen atoms are replaced by the heavy isotope deuterium. This exotic molecule was discovered around the young protostar IRAS 4A2 in the Perseus molecular cloud, about 1,000 light-years from Earth. “Both results underscore how important high-performance spectroscopic measurements like those from COMPASS with ALMA are for detecting rare and previously unknown chemical phenomena,” says Drozdovskaya. “They show just how much we still have to learn about the chemical processes in young protostellar systems.”

Bernese Research at the International Forefront

COMPASS is one of only four Large Programs selected in 2022 from among approximately 40 such proposals for ALMA that year. To systematically catalog the chemical composition of protostars, over 100 hours of observation time with the ALMA telescope were required. “The success rate was 10 percent—so we’re all the more pleased that our project was selected. After all, observation time at ALMA is highly competitive,” says Drozdovskaya.

Analysis of the entire COMPASS dataset is ongoing; now, all detected molecules in all 11 protostars are being systematically studied. “The analysis of all the collected data will take several more years,” says Drozdovskaya. In addition, follow-up and supplementary programs are underway at other facilities, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). “Our work provides insight into the complex chemistry of young star systems and is ultimately an important piece of the puzzle in understanding the origin of life,” Drozdovskaya concludes.

Published in journal: Astronomy & Astrophysics

Title: Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) (7 journals)

1. Overview of the ALMA Large Program
2. Approach to data reduction and products for line-rich broadband (sub)millimeter spectra
3. \(\ce{CH3OH}\) isotopic fractionation in the low-mass protostar BHR71-IRS1
4. Methyl cyanide isotopologues toward BHR71-IRS1
5. Tracing cavity walls and shocked knots with nonthermally desorbed \(\ce{CH3OH}\) in BHR71-IRS1
6. Discovery of a class I methanol maser transition and its association with acetaldehyde
7. First interstellar detection of fully deuterated methanol

Authors: 

1. J. K. Jørgensen, A. Coutens, M. N. Drozdovskaya, J.-E. Lee, A. L. Plunkett, S. Maret, A. Belloche, D. Harsono, Z. Telkamp, F. Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, M. L. R. van ’t Hoff, Á. Kóspál, M. Rao, J. Bergner, J.-H. Jeong, S. Spezzano, B. A. McGuire, P. Nazari, Y.-L. Yang, H.-S. Yun, A. Andreu, J. Ferrer Asensio, C.-H. Kim, N. F. W. Ligterink, Y. Lin, S.-Y. Liu, M. Lützen, P. Marchand, C. Xue, S. Zeng
2. Adele L. Plunkett, Sébastien Maret, Daniel Harsono, Jes K. Jørgensen, Audrey Coutens, Maria N. Drozdovskaya, Jeong-Eun Lee, Arnaud Belloche, Fernando Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, Merel L. R. van ’t Hoff, Jae-Hong Jeong, Chul-Hwan Kim, Ágnes Kóspál, Martine Lützen, Brett A. McGuire, Pooneh Nazari, Silvia Spezzano, Zoie Telkamp, Yao-Lun Yang, Hyeong-Sik Yun, Audrey Andreu, Jennifer Bergner, Judit Ferrer Asensio, Niels F. W. Ligterink, Yuxin Lin, Sheng-Yuan Liu, Pierre Marchand, Mihika Rao, Shaoshan Zeng
3. A. Coutens, F. Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, J. K. Jørgensen, M. N. Drozdovskaya, J.-E. Lee, A. L. Plunkett, D. Harsono, S. Maret, A. Belloche, J. Ferrer Asensio, M. L. R. van’t Hoff, J.-H. Jeong, Á. Kóspál, B. A. McGuire, P. Nazari, S. Spezzano, Z. Telkamp, Y.-L. Yang, H.-S. Yun, S. Zeng, A. Andreu, J. Bergner, C.-H. Kim, N. F. W. Ligterink, Y. Lin, S.-Y. Liu, M. Lützen, P. Marchand, M. Rao
4. P. Nazari, A. Coutens, J. K. Jørgensen, A. Belloche, A. L. Plunkett, S. Maret, D. Harsono, M. N. Drozdovskaya, J.-E. Lee, F. Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, J. Ferrer Asensio, M. L. R. van ’t Hoff, J.-H. Jeong, Á. Kóspál, B. A. McGuire, S. Spezzano, Y.-L. Yang, H.-S. Yun, S. Zeng
5. H.-S. Yun, J.-E. Lee, J. K. Jørgensen, A. Coutens, A. L. Plunkett, M. N. Drozdovskaya, A. Belloche, J.-H. Jeong, P. Nazari, Y.-L. Yang, M. L. R. van ’t Hoff, S. Maret, F. Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, D. Harsono, C.-H. Kim, Á. Kóspál, M. Lützen, S. Spezzano, S. Zeng
6. Jae-Hong Jeong, Jeong-Eun Lee, Jes K. Jørgensen, Audrey Coutens, Maria N. Drozdovskaya, Adele L. Plunkett, Arnaud Belloche, Sébastien Maret, Hyeong-Sik Yun, Fernando Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, Daniel Harsono, Merel L. R. van ’t Hoff, Chul-Hwan Kim, Ágnes Kóspál, Brett A. McGuire, Pooneh Nazari, Silvia Spezzano, Yao-Lun Yang, Shaoshan Zeng
7. A. Belloche, S. Spezzano, A. Coutens, M. N. Drozdovskaya, J. K. Jørgensen, J.-E. Lee, A. L. Plunkett, D. Harsono, S. Maret, F. Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, J.-H. Jeong, P. Nazari, Y.-L. Yang, H.-S. Yun, S. Zeng

Source/Credit: University of Bern

Edited by: Scientific Frontline

Reference Number: asph100726_01

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