Hydrogen peroxide is thought to form in space on the surfaces of cosmic dust grains - very fine particles similar to sand and soot - when hydrogen (H) is added to oxygen molecules (O2).
A further reaction of the hydrogen peroxide with more hydrogen is one way to produce water (H2O).
This new detection of hydrogen peroxide will therefore help astronomers better understand the formation of water in the Universe.
The discovery gives clues about the chemical link between two molecules critical for life: water and oxygen.
On Earth, hydrogen peroxide plays a key role in the chemistry of water and ozone in our planet's atmosphere, and is familiar for its use as a disinfectant or to bleach hair blonde. Now it has been detected in space by astronomers using the ESO-operated APEX telescope in Chile.
An international team of astronomers made the discovery with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope (APEX), situated on the 5000-metre-high Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes. They observed a region in our galaxy close to the star Rho Ophiuchi, about 400 light-years away.
The region contains very cold (around -250 degrees Celsius), dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust, in which new stars are being born. The clouds are mostly made of hydrogen, but contain traces of other chemicals, and are prime targets for astronomers hunting for molecules in space.
Telescopes such as APEX, which make observations of light at millimetre- and submillimetre-wavelengths, are ideal for detecting the signals from these molecules.
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