 | ||
IRAS 16293-2422 is a triple protostar system consisting of a binary star (A1/A2) with a 47 astronomical unit (AU) separation and a removed third star (B) 750AU distant, all having masses similar to that of the Sun. It is located in the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region. Astronomers using the ALMA array found glycolaldehyde — a simple form of sugar — in the gas surrounding the star. This discovery was the first time sugar has been found in space around a solar-type star on scales corresponding to the distance between Sun and Uranus - i.e., the scales where a planet-forming disk is expected to arise. The discovery shows that the building blocks of life may in the right place, at the right time, to be included in planets forming around the star.
The accretion disk was found to have parts rotating in opposite directions, the first time such a discovery has been made, and means that when planets form, the inner planets will orbit the opposite direction to the outer planets.