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A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), in collaboration with astrophysicists from the Center for Space Biology (CAB), CSIC-INTA, has identified the largest sulfur-containing organic molecule ever found in space. It is 2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione (C6H6S). Image: MPE/NASA/JPL-Caltech.

According to experts, they made this groundbreaking discovery by combining laboratory experiments with astronomical observations. Photo: ESO/L. Calçada/T. Müller (MPIA/HdA).

The largest sulfur-containing organic molecule ever found in the universe was discovered in a molecular cloud called G+0.693–0.027, located about 27,000 light-years from Earth, near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Photo: creationwiki.org.

2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione is the largest sulfur-containing molecule ever found in space, with 13 atoms. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI/NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI.

Previously, the largest molecules had only 9 atoms. Furthermore, most sulfur-containing molecules discovered had only 3, 4, or 5 atoms. Photo: Getty Images.

Mitsunori Araki, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany and the lead author of the study, said this is the first time the largest sulfur-containing organic molecule has been discovered in space. This is an important step toward understanding the chemical connections between space and the building blocks of life. Photo: Shutterstock.

The new discovery also reveals that many more complex sulfur-containing molecules may yet remain undiscovered. At the same time, the basic building blocks of life may have formed deep within the interstellar universe, long before Earth was born. Image: Earth.com.

The largest sulfur-containing organic molecule in the universe has been discovered.

Scientists have identified the molecule 2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione with 13 sulfur atoms, opening up new insights into life in distant space.