Polysaccharides and infrared spectra of galactic sources

OBSERVATIONS over the infrared waveband 2-30 µm available for a number of astronomical objects are shown here to be reconcilable with the transmittance properties of polysaccha-rides. Using an experimentally determined transmittance spectrum for cellulose we can readily relate astronomical data in the 2-4-µm, 8-13-µm and 15-30-µm wavebands and we obtain close fits to astronomical spectra in these several bands. From this detailed spectral agreement we consider it reasonable to infer the detection of interstellar polysaccharides. The identification of this highly complex macromolecule, presumably formed by an abiogenic processing of interstellar formaldehyde, could have a profound bearing on interstellar chemistry including the evolution of prebiotic molecules.