There Are Massive Clouds of Booze Floating Around in Space
Outside of the usual stars, planets and asteroids, plus all the trash we’ve shot up there, I’m not sure what makes up all the space in, well, space — if it’s even possible to answer that, given the infinite nature of the universe. None of us, for example, can conclusively claim that, somewhere in space, there isn’t a chunk of space minerals that looks exactly like Vin Diesel’s head. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced there probably is.
But one thing that apparently is up there, according to science, sounds like the wistful dreams of party-loving alien: an unimaginably gigantic cloud of suspended booze.
Specifically, it’s a massive cloud of mostly methanol, which isn’t generally what you want to drink. Around here, unless you’re quaffing the cabinet under your sink, the most likely way you’d ingest methanol is from botched moonshine — it’s what can make you go blind. But is vision not a small price to pay for getting absolutely blasted on our universe’s secret rainy day intoxicant stash?
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As for size, it’s an amount that would even send a Norse god ducking into an alley for an ungraceful upchuck. It's 1,000 times the diameter of our own solar system, or 400 quintillion liters of the good stuff, in fluid measurements. In house party measurements, that’s about 228.5 quintillion handles.
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How did this alcohol get there?
Apparently, such clouds of alcohol can form as part of the process of the formation of a new star, like a strange sort of welcome party. The cosmic equivalent of champagne running down the sides of a newly christened ship. Ethyl alcohol attached to space debris is pulled toward the forming star and, as the temperature increases, evaporates into gas.
Given that the cloud in question is 58 quadrillion miles away, near a constellation called Aquila, we’re not stopping by anytime soon. If we did, though, that space alcohol might smell alarmingly familiar. Scientists have noted that the cloud is also full of ethyl formate, which provides the taste and aroma of raspberries and rum. So not only will it make you blind, it’ll remind you of the worst spring break hangover you’ve ever had.