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Frozen sugar at center of Milky Way
The Scotsman ^ | Rhiannon Edward

Posted on 09/22/2004 6:06:58 PM PDT by zide56

Astronomers have found a cloud of frozen sugar near the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, it was revealed yesterday.

The discovery heightens the possibility of early building blocks of life originating in interstellar space.

Molecules of a simple sugar, glycolaldehyde, were detected in a cloud of gas and dust called Sagittarius B2 about 26,000 light years away.

Observations indicated large quantities of the sugar frozen to a temperature only a few degrees above absolute zero, the point at which all molecular movement stops.

Glycolaldehyde consists of two carbon atoms, two oxygen atoms and four hydrogen atoms.

This type of molecule is known as a two-carbon sugar. Significantly, it can react with a three-carbon sugar to produce the five-carbon sugar ribose - the molecule which forms the backbone of DNA.

The discovery adds to the growing evidence that the foundations of life can be traced to chemical reactions within interstellar clouds.

The clouds, which are often many light years across, provide the raw material from which new stars and planets are formed.

Radio astronomer Dr Jan Hollis, from the American space agency NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Green- belt, Maryland, said: "Many of the interstellar molecules discovered to date are the same kinds detected in laboratory experiments specifically designed to synthesise prebiotic molecules.

"This fact suggests a universal prebiotic chemistry."

Gravitational attraction causes lumps to form in interstellar clouds which eventually condense into stars and planets.

The process generates so much heat that any prebiotic molecules within the planetary lumps would probably be destroyed.

But the new findings show that life’s building blocks could exist in the frozen wastes beyond the planet-building zone of an embryonic solar system, where comets form.

A collision with a comet or a brush with a comet’s tail could then "seed" a young planet with the material needed to kick-start life.

The Green Bank Telescope which was used in the study is the world’s largest fully-steerable radio telescope. Its dish covers more than two acres of signal-collecting area.

Dr Philip Jewell, another member of the Green Bank team, said: "The large diameter and great precision of the telescope made this discovery possible, and also holds the promise of discovering additional new complex interstellar molecules."


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: crevolist; space
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To: Doctor Stochastic

Since it might seem that a black hole's event horizon is where stars,etc. are torn to bits, sugar might just be a by-product, huh?


101 posted on 09/22/2004 9:18:08 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Just because you are not paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't scanning your IP for your personal info.)
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To: zide56

List of interstellar molecules here:

http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/allmols.html


102 posted on 09/22/2004 9:33:56 PM PDT by LibFreeOrDie
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To: Doctor Stochastic
If these come into proximity, glycolaldehyde isn't too hard to get. It's a small molecule.

According to a prior poster, "two carbon atoms, two oxygen atoms and four hydrogen atoms"

OK, so the most likely reaction given common components of interstellar dust is...?

What is the rate constant for the reaction, at, say, 5 K?

Please recall, I'm asking, not claiming to know already.

103 posted on 09/22/2004 9:34:23 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: ApplegateRanch
AGR: Thanks for the ping. And for Kevin... Ping! "Pour some solar system on me" wouldn't have been a hit.
104 posted on 09/22/2004 10:56:12 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=napalminthemorning)
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To: SunkenCiv

"Pour some solar system on me" wouldn't have been a hit."

Ah! (sound of candle igniting above my head...)
*Now* I get the point of the Archies cartoon earlier
in the thread..."Sugar Sugar"


105 posted on 09/22/2004 11:04:40 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers
Uh-oh. I didn't see that one, but it's also funny, and alas, mine didn't have priority. I was thinking of the Def Leppard song. :') That one had a much better video than "Sugar Sugar" -- all the Archies tunes had exactly the same video. Veronica shifted her foot back and forth between the pedals, and Archie's nose pointed up in the air almost like Snoopy. ;')
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent

106 posted on 09/22/2004 11:11:45 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=napalminthemorning)
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To: SunkenCiv

Actually, I had the hots for Josie & The Pussycats.

Hmmm...maybe a music video featuring them, and a cameo by The Viking Kittens? And then Laura Ingraham & Ann Coulter?
And then...

Sorry. It's past my bedtime.
I'll quit before my beeber gets stuned completely. :-)


107 posted on 09/22/2004 11:21:40 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Kirkwood
uh-oh. This can only mean one thing....
GIANT INTERGALACTIC BEES!!!!
LOL!!!
108 posted on 09/23/2004 12:14:23 AM PDT by jennyp (...it's just a third-rate forgery.)
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To: grey_whiskers
grey_whiskers,

You may want to go here
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast20jun_1.htm

Glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar molecule, was found in a giant cloud of gas and dust near the center of the Milky Way. When combined with other molecules more complex sugars, such as Ribose (Ribose is the building block for both RNA and DNA) and Glucose, are formed. Ergo my DNA comment.
109 posted on 09/23/2004 3:37:32 AM PDT by MizRiz9
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To: zide56

The company that makes Twinkies is going out of business, and now THIS???


110 posted on 09/23/2004 3:49:02 AM PDT by Pete'sWife (Dirt is for racing... asphalt is for getting there.)
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To: zide56
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory relocated to the Oompaloompa Galaxy apparently...I always wondered where they would turn up. When is the next gold wrapper going to be found ?
111 posted on 09/23/2004 3:54:17 AM PDT by Bandaneira (Don't drink from the chocolate fountain...)
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To: Doctor Stochastic
If these come into proximity, glycolaldehyde isn't too hard to get. It's a small molecule.

But then, *most* molecules are pretty darned small. (rimshot)

112 posted on 09/23/2004 4:27:03 AM PDT by Ichneumon ("...she might as well have been a space alien." - Bill Clinton, on Hillary, "My Life", p. 182)
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To: zide56
could have been worse...they COULD have found:Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!
113 posted on 09/23/2004 4:34:40 AM PDT by ZinGirl
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To: MizRiz9
MizRiz9:

Thanks for the link.

Excerpting from this link, however:

"We don't yet understand how it could be formed there.
A combination of more astronomical observations and
theoretical chemistry work will be required to resolve the
mystery of how this molecule is formed in space."

Ergo, my question.

114 posted on 09/23/2004 6:20:14 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers
Link to a review article. It's four years old so there are probably newer articles.
115 posted on 09/23/2004 6:36:18 AM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: zide56

Never trust a skinny cook!


116 posted on 09/23/2004 6:36:29 AM PDT by TheJollyRoger (Never trust a skinny cook!)
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To: patricktschetter

In fact, it was at one time believed that organic compounds were indeed formed solely by life processes. Then urea was synthesized from inorganic chemicals and this notion was discredited and the current definition of organic as carbon containing compounds (other than a couple of simple ones, like CO, CO2, and H2CO3)was accepted.


117 posted on 09/23/2004 7:07:28 AM PDT by stremba
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To: Ichneumon
The latest pics of the galaxy, taken by the Hubble, showing the galactic center, recently learned to be composed of sugar, and the first-ever computer-enhanced image of the surrounding dark matter:


118 posted on 09/23/2004 7:10:56 AM PDT by PatrickHenry (I'm PatrickHenry and I approve this message.)
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To: All
The thread's been moved to "Chat."


Welcome to the Chat Forum, home of FR's liveliest threads.

119 posted on 09/23/2004 7:54:27 AM PDT by PatrickHenry (I'm PatrickHenry and I approve this message.)
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To: Doctor Stochastic
The hydrogen seems to have "always" been around.

Hydrogen "is" a proton. Protons, as of now, do not decay.

I put the quotes around -is- so as to diminish the possibility of a red herring attack.

26,000 light years is a fair piece for a universal process.

120 posted on 09/23/2004 8:31:36 AM PDT by AndrewC (I also think that Carthage should be destroyed. - Cato)
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