Discovery of the Interstellar Chiral Molecule Propylene Oxide
  (CH$_3$CHCH$_2$O)
  Life on Earth relies on chiral molecules, that is, species not superimposable
on their mirror images. This manifests itself in the selection of a single
molecular handedness, or homochirality, across the biosphere. We present the
astronomical detection of a chiral molecule, propylene oxide (CH$_3$CHCH$_2$O),
in absorption toward the Galactic Center. Propylene oxide is detected in the
gas phase in a cold, extended molecular shell around the embedded, massive
protostellar clusters in the Sagittarius B2 star-forming region. This material
is representative of the earliest stage of solar system evolution in which a
chiral molecule has been found.
