Astronomers for the first time found a sugar molecule in the Milky Way's dust cloud
Erythrulose, a type of sugar found in raspberries and used in self-tanning products, has been discovered for the first time in interstellar space. This discovery could help scientists better understand how molecules essential for the emergence of life form in the Universe.
Artist's impression of the Milky Way. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
There's more than just gas and cosmic dust between the stars. As reported by The Associated Press, an international group of astronomers has discovered erythrulose in the interstellar medium – a type of sugar found on Earth in raspberries and used in self-tanning products.
The molecule was found while studying a large gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way. It was detected using two radio telescopes in Spain and then identified by comparing the obtained signals with laboratory samples. The research results were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Sugars are not just a source of energy for living organisms. Some of them are components of DNA and other vital molecules. Therefore, scientists strive to find out how they form in space and whether such substances could have become the basis for the emergence of life.
Erythrulose itself is not considered essential for life. However, it easily converts into another sugar that scientists believe may have played a key role in the origin of life on Earth. Furthermore, it is one of the most complex sugar molecules ever detected in interstellar space.
This is not the first such discovery. About 25 years ago, another complex sugar – a "relative" of common sucrose – was already discovered in the center of the Milky Way. And a soil sample brought to Earth from asteroid Bennu by NASA's Osiris-Rex mission contained several sugars, including one that is part of DNA.
The new discovery adds weight to the hypothesis that the basic "building blocks of life" were already present in the cloud of gas and dust from which the Solar System later formed, rather than being brought by comets or asteroids later.
The study's authors plan to continue searching for other sugars in interstellar space. In their opinion, if such molecules were found in one region of the Galaxy, they might be widely distributed in other parts of it. This means that the chemical prerequisites for the emergence of life may exist not only in our Solar System but also in many other parts of the Universe.