Sugar molecules found in stellar gas cloud for the first time: may suggest life exists

Sugar molecules found in stellar gas cloud for the first time: may suggest life exists

Schematic diagram, which shows carbon atoms (gray), oxygen atoms (red) and hydrogen atoms (white), which together form a sugar molecule

Sugar molecules found in stellar gas cloud for the first time: may suggest life exists

This is a nascent area of ​​stars in the constellation of Ophiuchus, where a large number of young stars are being born

According to the National Geographic website, astronomers have recently made a "sweet" discovery. They found that a single sugar molecule exists in a gas cloud around a star about 400 light years away from the earth. This discovery provides A possibility of life on another planet.

Of course, this discovery does not directly indicate that life has appeared in other regions of the universe, it just proves that such a possibility exists completely. This discovery shows that, as one of the basic components of building life, such carbon-rich molecules can exist in the gas cloud even before the birth of the planet itself.

Of course, the sugar here does not mean the white granulated sugar that we usually eat. Scientists just use this term to roughly refer to an organic molecule called "carbohydrate" whose main components are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The chief scientist of the study, astronomer Jes Jørgensen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said that this time their team detected glycolaldehyde, the smallest sugar molecule.

Glycolaldehyde also exists on the earth, generally in the form of white, odorless powder. Although its use is not edible, scientists believe it is very important because this substance plays a very critical role in the chemical reaction that forms ribonucleic acid (RNA), and RNA is played in all living cells To important biomolecular structures that play a key role.

So far it is not clear why glycolaldehyde exists in space, but according to Jorgensen, observations have shown that they form and attach to the dust covered by the outer ice shell in the stellar molecular cloud with low temperature and high density Particle surface.

The first sugar molecule found in space

This is the first time scientists have observed the presence of sugar molecules at such close distances from a solar-like star in space.

Prior to this, glycolaldehyde was only found in two other areas in space: one is near the core area of ​​a huge dust gas cloud in the core area of ​​the Milky Way nebula, and a giant stellar nascent area about 26,000 light years away from Earth .

Jorgensen said: "All these two regions are too far away from us, so the resolution is relatively much worse, so it is difficult for astronomers to accurately confirm the location of these molecules here."

The young star found to have sugar molecules in a gas cloud in the nearby space is IRAS 16293-2422. The equipment used to make this discovery is the Atacama Large Millimeter Wave Array (ALMA), a large radio telescope equipment located in Chile. Jorgensen said: "These results have encouraged me and other astronomers to allow us to look into the distance and look for other pre-living matter in the area where stars and planets are forming, perhaps other molecules with more complicated structures. . "

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