Astronomers Detect Thiepine In Interstellar Cloud

Astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and CSIC-INTA Centro de Astrobiología report detection of thiepine (2,5-cyclohexadiene-1-thione, C6H6S) in molecular cloud G+0.693–0.027, about 27,000 light-years from Earth. They confirmed the 13-atom sulfur-bearing ring by matching laboratory-synthesized spectra (electrical discharge of thiophenol) to observations from the IRAM 30-m and Yebes 40-m radio telescopes, marking the largest sulfur molecule detected beyond Earth.