‘Happy hour’ comet leaves trail of booze and sugar

A comet that scientists have nicknamed the "happy hour" comet is leaving a trail of booze and sugar as it zig zags through the solar system, according to NASA.

Researchers were able to study comet Lovejoy's composition when it passed close to the Sun in January. They identified ethyl alcohol, which is found in alcoholic beverages, and the simple sugar glycoaldehyde, according to a statement from NASA.

This is the first time that ethyl alcohol has been observed in a comet, Nicolas Biver of the Paris Observatory in France said in a statement.

"We found that comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in at least 500 bottles of wine every second during its peak activity," Biver said in a statement.

Researchers identified a total of 21 different organic molecules in the gas from comet Lovejoy, which was formerly known as C/2014 Q2.

The findings were published on Oct. 23 in Science Advances and could offer support for the theory that “comet impacts on ancient Earth delivered a supply of organic molecules that could have assisted the origin of life,” according to NASA.

"The result definitely promotes the idea the comets carry very complex chemistry," said Stefanie Milam of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in a statement. “We're finding molecules with multiple carbon atoms. So now you can see where sugars start forming, as well as more complex organics such as amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins -- or nucleobases, the building blocks of DNA. These can start forming much easier than beginning with molecules with only two or three atoms."

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