‘Happy Hour’ comet creates alcohol in space

A comet scientists have nicknamed “Happy Hour” is leaving a trail of alcohol and sugar in its wake as it travels through space, according to NASA.

Scientists discovered the “Happy Hour” comet is producing alcohol as it travels through the atmosphere

The researchers were able to study comet Lovejoy’s composition as it passed close to the sun on 30 January 2015, when it was releasing water at a rate of 20 tons per second.

The team analysed the atmosphere of the comet at this time when it was at its most active and brightest, observing a microwave glow from the comet using the 30-metre diameter radio telescope at Pico Veleta in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain.

They discovered ethyl alcohol, which is found in alcoholic drinks, and the simple sugar glycoaldehyde, which adds evidence that comets may have been a source of the “complex organic molecules necessary for the emergence of life”.

“We found that comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity,” commented Nicolas Biver, of the Paris Observatory, France, lead author of a paper on the discovery published on 23 October in Science Advances.

No fewer than 21 different organic molecules in gas from the comet were identified.

“The result definitely promotes the idea the comets carry very complex chemistry,” said Stefanie Milam, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-author of the paper.

“During the Late Heavy Bombardment about 3.8 billion years ago, when many comets and asteroids were blasting into earth and we were getting our first oceans, life didn’t have to start with just simple molecules like water, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen.

“Instead, life had something that was much more sophisticated on a molecular level. We’re finding molecules with multiple carbon atoms.

“So now you can see where sugars start forming, as well as more complex organics such as amino acids – the building blocks of proteins – or nucleobases, the building blocks of DNA. These can start forming much easier than beginning with molecules with only two or three atoms.”

In other space-related news, Ardbeg revealed findings from its space whisky experiment last month after studying the effects micro-gravity has on whisky ageing.

Meanwhile, Ballantine’s created a whisky glass for drinking in outer space.