Download Ingredients of Life found in distant galaxy, Arecibo astronomer

Ingredients of Life found in Distant Galaxy, Arecibo Astronomers Announce.
At a meeting in Washington, D.C. today, astronomers from Arecibo Observatory
announced that they have found two of the basic ingredients of life in a distant galaxy
called Arp 220.
The team used the world’s largest telescope, the 305-m diameter radio dish at Arecibo,
to observe Arp 220 across a wide frequency band. “We didn’t know what we were going
to find – we just started looking, and what we found was incredibly exciting!” said Tapasi
Ghosh, one of the science team.
The galaxy in question lies 250 million light years away from Earth, and was chosen for
the search because it is known to be giving birth to massive new stars at a remarkably
high rate, marking it out as the product of a merger of two previously separate galaxies.
“We know from our own Milky Way Galaxy that the birth of massive stars is linked to
the formation of many exotic molecules, making this a good place to look,” explained
team member Chris Salter.
Among other molecules revealed by the survey are Methanamine and Hydrogen Cyanide.
Mayra Lebron, another team member, explained, “These are two of the basic ingredients
of life as they can combine with interstellar water molecules to form Glycine, the
simplest Amino Acid, which itself has not yet been found in space.”
Astronomers from the U.S. and overseas are meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss the
future of Arecibo Observatory, which is threatened by a budgetary crunch at the National
Science Foundation (NSF). They will be presenting ideas for future science initiatives
with the telescope and talking about ways to keep it operating beyond 2011. This is the
date when the NSF will be withdrawing half of its current funding should matching
funds be found from other sources, or recommending closure should matching funds not
be forthcoming. “This discovery concerning Arp 220 really highlights the sort of science
that Arecibo can do and why we are determined to find a way of saving this unique
facility,” said Bob Kerr, Director of the Observatory.
The members of the Arecibo team who made the discovery are Chris Salter, Tapasi
Ghosh, Barbara Catinella, Mayra Lebron, Mikael Lerner, Robert Minchin and Emmanuel
Momjian.