Astronomers detect sugar in deep space for the first time
An international team of researchers discovered erythrulose, a four-carbon sugar, in a giant molecular cloud near the center of the Milky Way. The finding is the first confirmed detection of a monosaccharide, or simple sugar, in the interstellar medium, the vast clouds of gas and dust where stars and planets are born.
The sugar was identified in the molecular cloud G+0.693−0.027, about 8,200 parsecs from Earth, using highly sensitive observations from Spain's Yebes 40 meter and IRAM 30-meter radio telescopes. Researchers detected multiple spectral signatures matching erythrulose, providing strong evidence that the molecule is genuinely present in space rather than the result of chance or interference.
Until now, scientists had found sugar-related compounds in space, such as glycolaldehyde, but no actual sugar molecules. Previous discoveries of sugars including ribose and glucose in meteorites and samples from asteroid Bennu had suggested that such molecules might have formed in space before being delivered to young planets. However, direct evidence from the interstellar medium had been lacking.
The researchers found that erythrulose is at least eight times more abundant than comparable three-carbon sugars, which were not detected in the same cloud. Computer simulations indicate the molecule likely forms on icy dust grains through reactions involving simpler compounds such as glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol before being released into space.
The discovery is important because sugars are fundamental building blocks of biology. In liquid water, ketose sugars like erythrulose can transform into related sugars that play a role in the formation of nucleic acids, the molecules that store genetic information. The researchers say the finding shows that complex sugars can be produced naturally in the harsh conditions of interstellar space, rather than only on planets.
According to the study, erythrulose is also the largest noncyclic molecular species identified in interstellar space to date, the first molecule detected there containing four oxygen atoms, and only the second chiral molecule ever found in the interstellar medium. Its discovery suggests that even more chemically complex and biologically relevant molecules may exist among the stars.
The team believes sugars such as erythrulose could have formed in the cloud that gave rise to the Solar System before becoming incorporated into comets, asteroids and meteorites. Those objects may have later delivered sugar rich material to the early Earth, potentially supplying ingredients needed for the chemistry that eventually led to life.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Australia identified the likely source of mysterious ‘space balls’.
