Cosmic cocktail: Exotic methanol discovered in planet-forming regions

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 remains 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 Prof. Dr. 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.

Alcohol in space

COMPASS is using ALMA to study eleven 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% – 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 eleven 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.

Publication details:

Jørgensen, J. K., Coutens, A., Drozdovskaya, M. N. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) I. Overview of the ALMA Large Program, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558725

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa58725-25/aa58725-25.html

Plunkett, A. L., Maret, S., Harsono, D. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) II. Approach to data reduction and products for line-rich broadband (sub-) millimeter spectra, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558751

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa58751-25/aa58751-25.html

Coutens, A., Cruz-Sáenz de Miera, F., Jørgensen, J. K. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) III. CH3OH isotopic fractionation in the low-mass protostar BHR71-IRS1, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558733

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa58733-25/aa58733-25.html

Nazari, P., Coutens, A., Jørgensen, J. K. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) IV. Methyl cyanide isotopologues toward BHR71-IRS1, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558748

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa58748-25/aa58748-25.html

Yun, H.-S., Lee, J.-E., Jørgensen, J. K. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) V. Tracing cavity walls and shocked knots with non-thermally desorbed CH3OH in BHR71-IRS1, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558732

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa58732-25/aa58732-25.html

Jeong, J.-H., Lee, J.-E., Jørgensen, J. K. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) VI. Discovery of a class I methanol maser transition and its association with acetaldehyde, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202558734

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa58734-25/aa58734-25.html

Belloche, A., Spezzano, S., Coutens, A. et al. (2026). Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) VII. First interstellar detection of fully deuterated methanol, Astronomy & Astrophysics.

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202659642

URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/10/aa59642-26/aa59642-26.html

ERC Consolidator Grant to study the building blocks of life in young planetary systems

In 2025, Drozdovskaya received an ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for her research project "Planetary Systems from Interstellar Ingredients" (ΨI). This grant supports outstanding researchers in establishing or continuing their own teams at a research institution within the EU or an Associated Country. The ERC Consolidator Grant is generously funded at approximately 2 million euros per grant and is awarded for a period of five years. With the ERC Consolidator Grant for her ΨI project, Maria Drozdovskaya is building on the insights gained through COMPASS: she is investigating whether complex molecules are preserved from the protoplanetary disk through young planetary systems and comets, or whether they undergo chemical transformation along the way.

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