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Arecibo telescope finds critical ingredients for the soup of life in a galaxy far, far away
January 15, 2008AUSTIN, Texas - Astronomers from Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, have detected for the first time the molecules methanimine and hydrogen cyanide - two ingredients that build life-forming amino acids - in a galaxy some 250 million light years away.
"Just add water!" said Robert Minchin, an Arecibo astronomer on the project, who explained that methanimine and hydrogen cyanide are two of the basic ingredients of life, because when combined with water they form glycine, the simplest amino acid, a building block of life on Earth.
The Arecibo astronomers focused on the distant galaxy Arp 220, an ultra-luminous starburst galaxy, because it forms new stars at a very high rate. They used the 305-meter, or 1,000-foot diameter, Arecibo radio telescope, the world's largest and most sensitive, to observe the galaxy at different frequencies. In fact, for the first time in April 2007, they used the 800 megahertz wide-band mode of the main spectrometer to make these detections.
These molecules were found by searching for radio emission at specific frequencies. Each chemical substance has its own unique radio frequency and astronomers can in that way identify the different substances, much like people can be identified with their unique fingerprints.
"We weren't targeting any particular molecule, so we didn't know what we were going to find - we just started searching, and what we found was incredibly exciting," said Tapasi Ghosh, an Arecibo astronomer.
"The fact that we can observe these substances at such a vast distance means that there are huge amounts of them in Arp 220," said Emmanuel Momjian, a former Arecibo astronomer, now at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, N.M. "It is indeed very intriguing to find that the ingredients of life appear in large quantities where new stars and planets are born."
Cornell University Communications
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Arecibo joins global network to create 6,000-mile telescope
On May 22, Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico joined other telescopes in North America, South America, Europe and Africa in simultaneously observing the same targets, simulating a telescope more than 6,800 miles (almost 11,000 kilometers) in diameter.
Neutron stars can be more massive, while black holes are more rare, Arecibo Observatory finds
Neutron stars and black holes aren't all they've been thought to be. In fact, neutron stars can be considerably more massive than previously believed, and it is more difficult to form black holes, according to new research developed by using the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
Freshly painted Arecibo Observatory returns to work, spies object associated with meteor showers
After receiving its first fresh, full coat of paint in more than 40 years, Arecibo Observatory made its first observation in more than six months at 6:36 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 8.
Light Gives Asteroids Spin
Astronomers have observed an asteroid change the rate at which it spins for the first time, and shown that this is due to a theoretical effect predicted but never before seen
Researchers using Arecibo Telescope discover never-before-seen pulsar blasts in Crab Nebula
Astronomers and physicists using the Cornell-managed Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico have discovered radio interpulses from the Crab Nebula pulsar that feature never-before-seen radio emission spectra. This leads scientists to speculate this could be the first cosmic object with a third magnetic pole.
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Murder at Arecibo: Life--and Death--at the Arecibo Observatory by Colin Hines (Author) Laureen Fortune, still foxy at forty, visits the Arecibo Observatory as guest of former lover Kelly Collins, an astronomer from the University of Chicago. The Observatory’s spectacular radio/radar telescope, comprising a twenty-acre reflecting dish of exquisitely shaped aluminum sheeting, a 600-ton cat’s cradle of steel girders suspended fifty stories above to hold its radio feeds, and cutting-edge radio and computing equipment, has drawn a number of other scientific investigators and hangers-on to its site in north-west Puerto Rico. Laureen knows several of these as long-ago friends and/or lovers, brought together by the Observatory’s unique attractions. Laureen inhales the tortured history and mixed-up culture of the Isle of Enchantment until the idyll is broken one day by... |
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Single-Dish Radio Astronomy: Techniques and Applications : Proceedings of the Naic-Nrao Summer School Held at National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory, arecib by Sneezana Stanimirovic (Editor), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (Editor), National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (Editor) | |
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SCIENTISTS TO MAP UNIVERSE.(Arecibo Observatory is investing in radio receivers to upgrade radio telescope)(Brief Article): An article from: Caribbean Update b This digital document is an article from Caribbean Update, published by Caribbean Update, Inc. on August 1, 2003. The length of the article is 347 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: SCIENTISTS TO MAP UNIVERSE.(Arecibo Observatory is investing in radio receivers to upgrade radio telescope)(Brief Article) Publication: Caribbean Update (Newsletter) Date: August 1, 2003 Publisher: Caribbean Update, Inc. Volume: 19 Issue: 7 Article Type: Brief Article Distributed by Thomson... | |
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Radar investigations of barium releases over Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico (SuDoc NAS 1.26:199197) by Frank T. Djuth (Author) | |
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