Found in Orbit Around a Young Sunlike Star: Sugar
Space Sugars A team of astronomers has found molecules of glycolaldehyde - a simple form of sugar - in the gas surrounding a young binary star. This image shows the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region in infrared light, as seen by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE). IRAS 16293-2422 is the red object in the center of the small square. The inset image is an artist's impression of glycolaldehyde molecules, showing glycolaldehyde's molecular structure (C2H4O2). ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); NASAThe sweet building block of life Water, oxygen and now sugar molecules have been found floating around in space, in the right place and at the right moment to wind up on newly forming planets. Astronomers have found sugar molecules around a star for the first time, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The team found molecules of glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar, in the gas around a star called IRAS 16293-2422. This young binary star has roughly...