The discovery was made by analyzing radio and microwave signals streaming from the area for distinctive patterns, which indicated the presence of glycolaldehyde. "As technology has advanced, we are able to detect the weak signatures of these [molecules] in other sources," said Anthony Remijan, a researcher with the U.S.-based National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which made the initial finding of glycolaldehyde in space. "This detection may begin to illustrate our thesis that a pre-biotic organic chemistry exists throughout the galaxy and may be the impetus for the formation of the organic material needed to seed new planets with the elements essential for the formation of life," Remijan wrote in an e-mail to Discovery News. Scientists hope the next generation of telescopes will be sophisticated enough to detect the sugar in gas and dust disks that are forming stars the size of our sun. Beltran and colleagues found glycolaldehyde in an area giving rise to very large stars containing more than 10 times the mass of our sun. "We discovered this by chance," Beltran said. "In the future, we'd like to try to detect this glycolaldehyde in other regions." Related Links: |
advertisement
Put Discovery News on Your Site!
|
-
our sites
-
video
mobile
-
shop
-
stay connected
-
corporate
