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Natural sugar discovered in interstellar dust cloud near centre of Milky Way
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Natural sugar discovered in interstellar dust cloud near centre of Milky Way
Astronomers have detected the sugar erythrulose in a dust cloud near the Milky Way's centre, the first such discovery in interstellar space.
- Dr. Izaskun Jiménez-Serra and her team used two Spanish radio telescopes to observe the cloud G+0.693‑0.027 and identified the signature of erythrulose.
- Jiménez-Serra said the detection is the first sugar found in interstellar space and indicates that such compounds are more common than previously believed.
- The researchers estimated that millions of tonnes of erythrulose could have rained down on Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment, potentially contributing to early prebiotic chemistry.
- Prof. Yoshihiro Furukawa, who discovered sugars on the Bennu asteroid, said the finding confirms that sugars formed in the interstellar medium can reach planets via cometary dust.
What happened since
Sugar Detected in Interstellar Space for First Time
Astronomers have identified a natural sugar in a molecular cloud near the center of the Milky Way, supporting the idea that life's building blocks can form before planets exist.
- Researchers detected erythrulose, a sugar found in red berries on Earth, in the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027 using two radio telescopes in Spain.
- Jiménez-Serra said the discovery was unexpected and shows that relatively complex sugars can form in interstellar space before stars and planets are born.
- The study estimates that 500,000 to 50 million metric tons of erythrulose may have reached Earth via asteroids during the Late Heavy Bombardment around 4 billion years ago.
- Briones said the detection opens the possibility of finding other sugars, such as ribose, in space — molecules important for the origin of life.
TopicsErythruloseastronomyradio telescopesMolecular CloudsLate Heavy BombardmentastrobiologyPrebiotic ChemistryMilky WaySugar MoleculesInterstellar Medium
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