Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 31, 1995                   TAG: 9505310094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ALCOHOL IN SPACE - IT'S A GAS ...

Using one of the world's largest radiotelescopes, British scientists have analyzed an interstellar gas cloud and calculated that it contains enough alcohol to make 400 trillion trillion pints of beer.

The alcoholic cloud known as G34.3, some 10,000 light-years away, is unlikely to yield any of its brew to earthlings, except as knowledge about the chemical reactions associated with the birth and growth of stars.

The G34.3 gas cloud in the constellation Aquila, more than 1,000 times the diameter of the solar system, harbors a hot young star, and the British study shows that the concentration of alcohol in the cloud is highest near the star.

The discovery, by Dr. Tom J. Millar of the University of Manchester and Dr. Geoffrey H. Macdonald and Dr. Rolf J. Habing of the University of Kent at Canterbury in England, marks the first time such a vast amount of alcohol has been detected in a celestial body.

The scientists conducted their study using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope atop Mauna Kea Volcano in Hawaii. The scientists' telescope gathers and focuses submillimeter-wave radio signals emitted by warm celestial objects, including gas clouds. The purpose is to identify specific frequencies, or ``lines,'' at which the signal is either sharply stronger or weaker than the background level. Analysis allows scientists to calculate the chemical composition of distant celestial objects.

Over time, gaseous components condense on the surface of dust grains in the interstellar medium. The condensation, Macdonald believes, brings elements close enough together that reactions begin. In about 10,000 years, relatively complex molecules, including alcohol, are created. Some scientists speculate that at least some chemical constituents of life originated in the interstellar medium.

``It looks as if some very interesting surface chemistry is occurring in gas clouds as stars form inside them,'' Macdonald said. Some scientists speculate that at least some of the chemical constituents of life originated in the interstellar medium, eventually drifting into the gravitational field of the Earth.

``We're by no means finished with our search for alcohol,'' Macdonald said. ``Next month we'll return to Hawaii to begin mapping ethyl alcohol in the center of our galaxy. There seems to be a lot of it around.''