According to a new study, space is teeming with grease-like molecules, CNN reported.
The findings of the study, which was conducted by the University of New South Wales in Australia and Ege University in Turkey, were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The study helped give scientists a better understanding of the origin of the solar system and stars, CNN reported.
A team of eight scientists recreated material similar to interstellar dust and analyzed how many grease-like carbon molecules are present outside the solar system, CNN reported.
According to the study, the estimated amount of space grease in the Milky Way was far more than once believed -- 10 billion trillion trillion metric tons, CNN reported.
Space is not just greasy, but dirty, said Tim Schmidt, co-author of the study and professor at UNSW.
"Think of it more as like greasy soot," Tim Schmidt, co-author of the study and a professor at the University of New South Wales, told CNN. "It's not a pure substance, it's not biological. It's random, it's not something that you want to eat. It would make things dirty like soot would."
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