Frozen sugar at center of Milky Way

The Scotsman ^ | Rhiannon Edward

[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."

[aruanan]

If there is "sugar" at the center of the "milky" way does that mean that dark matter is made of coffee?

No, probably Cocoa Puffs.

[Willie Green]

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

We are stardust
We are golden
And we´ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

[Hank Rearden]

That's nougat!

And you just know they're gonna nickname it "Ted".

[Revolting cat!]

Like I've been trying to tell ya all along, the Archies had it right!

[Lorianne]

cool ... Maybe we should rename it the Slurpee Way

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Mallow Cup package can be viewed here and scroll down. They were a lot like Reese's cups but had marshmellow filling rather than peanut butter. My Dad used to eat them in the 1920's and often stated the cup was so large you had to eat it with two hands (again, the child's hands).

[Savage Beast]

God has a great sense of humor.

(As though we hadn't noticed.)

[mewzilla]

Aaaargh. Now I want a candy bar :(

[js1138]

We are stardust?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[CobaltBlue]

>>Not to start anything, but that's interesting.

Fascinating, really. I can see it now:

Good news - there really is a God.

Bad news - He believes in evolution. ;^)

[js1138]

prE.coli?

[VadeRetro]

Good news - there really is a God.

MORE good news, He likes ice cream!

[grey_whiskers]

Ah grey-whiskers sugar is VERY important in DNA (in fact it is part of DNA).

Wrong end of my question...;-)

We know how heavy elements are formed in the
ever-popular interstellar furnaces^TM but I have not yet
heard or read how sugars have formed.

Unless your implication is that the sugars are the
remains of "life, Jim, but not as we know it."

I would need to know more about the total mass of sugar,
its density (in space, not in crystal form, wise guy)
whether it contains asymmetric carbon sites,
and whether it is a racemic mixture
before venturing on serious comment.

[grey_whiskers]

Astronomers have found a cloud of frozen sugar near the centre of our galaxy ... Don't ask what they've found on Uranus.

"Kling-ons" (ba-dum bum!)

[grey_whiskers]

Fascinating, really. I can see it now: Good news - there really is a God. Bad news - He believes in evolution. ;^)

Let me know when you find the first Babel fish ;-)

[ApplegateRanch]

Velikovski?!?

Manna?!?

I need a drink!

[Doctor Stochastic]

You could just look at the molecular structure of glycolaldehyde to see if there it is optically active. It isn't.

[grey_whiskers]

You could just look at the molecular structure of glycolaldehyde to see if there it is optically active. It isn't.

Sorry, I was distracted by the Kerry Windsurfing ad
and didn't want to was too lazy to look it up. Thanks!

Has anyone in the open lit, textbooks, etc. come up with a
model for creation of the glycoaldehyde during a star's life cycle?

Is there a pre-existing model for galactic formation
which predicts this or similar molecular species--
anywhere as interstellar gas, let alone near the center
of a galaxy?

BTW: Hey, nice effects on the font. ;-)

[Doctor Stochastic]

The hydrogen seems to have "always" been around. Carbon is made in mainstream stars. Oxygen seems (I didn't look too closely) to be produced in mainstream or at least giant stars. If these come into proximity, glycolaldehyde isn't too hard to get. It's a small molecule.