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Alcohol in Space
[April 04th 2006]
Astronomers detected huge cloud of alcohol in region of Milky way called W3(OH)
Astronomers at Britains Jodrell Bank Observatory detected a cloud running 463 billion kilometers across in the region of our galaxy called W3(OH). Research can bring more focus on formation of giant stars from the ancient gas.
In the region W3(OH) of our galaxy stars are being born by the gravitational collapse of concentration of gas and dust. The research team from Jodrell university lead by Lisa Harvey smith said in the press release.
Methyl alcohol (Methanol) another form of alcohol which is not suitable for human consumpion unlike enthyl alcohol (Ethanol) found in beverages is spread almost across 463 billion kilometers in the W3(OH) region.
Team lead Lisa Harvey smith is active researcher in the area of astronomical masers using radio telescopes. These masers are emanating from expanding clouds of atomic and molecular gas surrounding very hot, young stars in our galaxy. The positions, sizes, motions and polarisation of masers can tell us a lot about the region in which new stars are being formed from old clouds of gas and dust.
Masers are regions of gas in which radiation is amplified many thousands or millions of times by molecules. They emit very brightly, allowing astronomers to observe them not only at great distances, but also from very dusty regions through which light cannot pass. Unlike lasers, masers emit microwaves (short-wave radio signals) and must be observed using radio telescopes.
Their work was to be presented on Tuesday at a meeting in Leicester, central England, of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).
In 2004, methanol, also called methyl alcohol, was spotted for the first time in one of the disk-like clusters that form around nascent stars.
That discovery opened up a new area of debate in astrophysics, challenging the conventional view that interstellar chemistry could not provide the conditions for creating complex molecules, as they would be ripped apart by ultraviolet radiation from stars and other tough conditions.
About 130 organic molecules have also been identified so far in outer space, fuelling speculation that these complex molecules may have helped to sow the seeds for life on the fledgling Earth.
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