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Sugar Molecules Found in Gas Surrounding Sun-Like Star
August 29, 2012 by Staff
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a team of astronomers discovered molecules of a simple form of sugar in the gas surrounding a young binary star called IRAS 16293-2422, which is located roughly 400 light-years away.
“In the disc of gas and dust surrounding this newly formed star, we found glycolaldehyde, which is a simple form of sugar, not much different to the sugar we put in coffee,” explains Jes Jorgensen (Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark), the lead author of the paper. “This molecule is one of the ingredients in the formation of RNA, which — like DNA, to which it is related — is one of the building blocks of life.”
“What it is really exciting about our findings is that the ALMA observations reveal that the sugar molecules are falling in towards one of the stars of the system,” says team member Cécile Favre (Aarhus University, Denmark). “The sugar molecules are not only in the right place to find their way onto a planet, but they are also going in the right direction.”
"Fairly simple organic compound. I wounder what the synthesis was and what intermediates the star went through to get this aldehyde."
Originally posted by ImaFungi
reply to post by LaughingatHumanity
ok thanks.,,.., when they split the light up,,,, how do they weed through all the other debris that light traveled past before being received on earth? how do they know they werent getting readings from the light passing by these compounds on earth right before it was received?
once a star has been formed in the middle of a rotating cloud of gas and dust, it heats the inner parts of the cloud to around room temperature, evaporating the chemically complex molecules, and forming gases that emit their characteristic radiation as radio waves that can be mapped using powerful radio telescopes such as ALMA.
Originally posted by Signals
How old is the light we are observing from this star now?
Originally posted by Signals
If its 400 light years away, wouldn't this already have potentially happened if it was going to?
Glycolaldehyde is thought to have been synthesised on the prebiotic Earth via the Formose reaction(4). This is where molecules of formaldehyde polymerise, or react together to form the larger molecule of Glycolaldehyde.
There is abundant gaseous formaldehyde in dense clouds and also some holding on tight to grains. This could also be the reaction forming Glycolaldehyde in space. The reaction would be catalysed or kick stated by UV radiation from stars.