Post by auntym on Aug 29, 2012 11:59:53 GMT -6
www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5940/sugar-found-near-two-star-system#.UD4aw7kL230.twitter
Sugar found near two-star system[/color]
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
by Caitlin Bishop
Cosmos Online
SYDNEY: Sugar molecules have been found in the gas surrounding a sun-like binary star 400 light-years from Earth, according to a team of Danish astronomers.
The discovery was possible using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope with an array of 66 antennas spread over 16km.
While molecules of glycolaldehyde - a simple sugar - have been located in space before, this is the first time they have been found moving around a star in the right direction and at the right time to be included in planet formation.
Sugar could its way onto a plant
“What it is really exciting about our findings is that the ALMA observations reveal the sugar molecules are falling in towards one of the stars of the system," said ALMA team member Cécile Favre at the Aarhus University in Denmark, in a statement from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
“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," he said.
Glycolaldehyde is a 2-carbon sugar that can react with a 3-carbon sugar to produce ribose, which forms the backbone structure of DNA.
Important component of life
At the moment the molecules are a similar distance from the star as Uranus is to the Sun, bu are moving towards the star.
“The fact they are moving towards the star is important, because for life to form the molecules will need to be part of a planet closer to the sun, said Simon O’Toole, Australian Deputy Gemini Scientist at the Australian Astronomical Observatory.
"The sugar molecules may not necessarily lead to life, but they are an important component.”
CONTINUE READING: www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5940/sugar-found-near-two-star-system#.UD4aw7kL230.twitter
Sugar found near two-star system[/color]
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
by Caitlin Bishop
Cosmos Online
SYDNEY: Sugar molecules have been found in the gas surrounding a sun-like binary star 400 light-years from Earth, according to a team of Danish astronomers.
The discovery was possible using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope with an array of 66 antennas spread over 16km.
While molecules of glycolaldehyde - a simple sugar - have been located in space before, this is the first time they have been found moving around a star in the right direction and at the right time to be included in planet formation.
Sugar could its way onto a plant
“What it is really exciting about our findings is that the ALMA observations reveal the sugar molecules are falling in towards one of the stars of the system," said ALMA team member Cécile Favre at the Aarhus University in Denmark, in a statement from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
“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," he said.
Glycolaldehyde is a 2-carbon sugar that can react with a 3-carbon sugar to produce ribose, which forms the backbone structure of DNA.
Important component of life
At the moment the molecules are a similar distance from the star as Uranus is to the Sun, bu are moving towards the star.
“The fact they are moving towards the star is important, because for life to form the molecules will need to be part of a planet closer to the sun, said Simon O’Toole, Australian Deputy Gemini Scientist at the Australian Astronomical Observatory.
"The sugar molecules may not necessarily lead to life, but they are an important component.”
CONTINUE READING: www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/5940/sugar-found-near-two-star-system#.UD4aw7kL230.twitter