Simple sugar detected around sunlike star

National Geographic : Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope in Chile have detected molecules of glycolaldehydeâmdash;the simplest form of sugarâmdash;near a young, sunlike star some 400 light-years away. Composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the organic molecule can be an important ingredient in the formation of ribonucleic acid (RNA), one of the building blocks of life. The finding is exciting because the sugar molecules could find their way onto a planet as it is being formed. Glycolaldehyde is thought to be produced in space when gases solidify in the extreme cold and form ice on dust particles, where the gas molecules bond together and form a more complex substance. Although the sugar molecule has been found in two other places in space, this is the first time it has been spotted so close to a sunlike star. The results of the study were published yesterday in Astrophysical Journal Letters.