Researchers using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) have discovered regions where certain organic molecules somehow endure the intense radiation near the supermassive black hole at the centre of galaxy NGC 1068, also known to amateur stargazers as Messier 77 (M77). “ALMA has launched an entirely new era in astrochemistry,” said Eric Herbst of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and a member of the research team. “Detecting and tracing molecules throughout the cosmos enables us to learn so much more about otherwise hidden areas, ...
