Frozen complex organic molecules have been discovered for the first time around a young protostar in a galaxy other than our own, thanks to the observing power of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Astronomers led by Marta Sewiło of the University of Maryland used JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to detect myriad complex organic molecules (COMs) in ice that encase grains of dust around the massive protostar ST6 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is a neighboring dwarf galaxy about 163,000 light years away. COMs are classed as carbon-bearing molecules containing more than six atoms, and many COMs are the chemical precursors to the building blocks of life as we know it.

The frozen COMs that were confirmed to exist around ST6 include acetaldehyde, acetic acid, ethanol, meth

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