In a sweet discovery, astronomers find sugar lurking in the space between stars - NBC News
Astronomers have detected a complex sugar molecule called erythrulose in the interstellar medium near the center of the Milky Way. This discovery provides further evidence regarding the chemical building blocks available for the origin of life.
Why it matters
Understanding the presence of organic molecules in space helps scientists determine whether the ingredients for life were delivered to Earth or formed locally.
The space between stars just got a little sweeter. Astronomers have detected a type of sugar in space that’s also found in raspberries and self-tanners. The sugar, called erythrulose, lurks in what’s called the interstellar medium: thin clouds of gas and dust littered between stars. Sugar does more than sweeten tea and powder doughnuts. Different varieties fuel our cells and even make up DNA. Scientists are itching to know how sugars form because they’re a key ingredient for life as we know it. Using two dish-shaped radio telescopes in Spain, researchers collected data from a large gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way. They identified the sugar in gas form by comparing telescope signals with samples in the lab. It’s the latest kind of sugar detected in space — in a region crossed by NASA’s twin Voyager, the farthest spacecraft to ever travel from Earth.
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