John
04-23-2009, 06:52 PM
Astronomers testing a giant dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way say it might taste of raspberries.
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1496407.jpg
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, were searching for evidence of amino acids, reports The Guardian.
They say they failed to locate any but did find ethyl formate - the chemical responsible for the flavour of raspberries.
The astronomers used the IRAM telescope in Spain to analyse electromagnetic radiation emitted by a hot and dense region of Sagittarius B2 that surrounds a newborn star.
While scouring their data, the team found ethyl formate as well as evidence for the deadly chemical propyl cyanide in the same cloud. The two molecules are the largest yet discovered in deep space.
Astronomer Arnaud Belloche said: "It does happen to give raspberries their flavour, but there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries."
The results are being presented at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science at the University of Hertfordshire.
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1496407.jpg
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, were searching for evidence of amino acids, reports The Guardian.
They say they failed to locate any but did find ethyl formate - the chemical responsible for the flavour of raspberries.
The astronomers used the IRAM telescope in Spain to analyse electromagnetic radiation emitted by a hot and dense region of Sagittarius B2 that surrounds a newborn star.
While scouring their data, the team found ethyl formate as well as evidence for the deadly chemical propyl cyanide in the same cloud. The two molecules are the largest yet discovered in deep space.
Astronomer Arnaud Belloche said: "It does happen to give raspberries their flavour, but there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries."
The results are being presented at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science at the University of Hertfordshire.