NEW YORK – Astronomers have discovered a complex type of sugar drifting through the vast space between stars, a finding that could provide new insights into how the chemical ingredients necessary for life formed long before the birth of our solar system.
The discovery, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy, marks the first detection of erythrulose in the interstellar medium, the diffuse clouds of gas and dust that fill the space between stars. The research adds to growing evidence that some of the fundamental building blocks of life may have been widespread across the Milky Way before planets such as Earth were formed.
According to the study, an international team of astronomers identified the sugar using two radio telescopes in Spain to observe a massive molecular cloud near the center of the Milky Way. By comparing the radio signals collected by the telescopes with laboratory measurements, the researchers confirmed the presence of gaseous erythrulose in the cloud.
Erythrulose is a naturally occurring sugar found in foods such as raspberries and is also used in some self-tanning cosmetic products. Although it is not considered essential for life, scientists say it can readily transform into related sugars believed to have played an important role in the chemical processes that may have led to the emergence of life on Earth.
The newly detected molecule is among the most chemically complex sugars ever identified in interstellar space, highlighting the remarkable diversity of organic compounds that exist throughout the galaxy.
“This is a pristine example of the material that is simply floating throughout the galaxy,” said Erika Hamden, an astrophysicist at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the research. She noted that discoveries like this help scientists understand the chemical environment from which stars and planetary systems are born.
The finding builds on decades of research into organic chemistry in space. Scientists have previously detected molecules that serve as building blocks for genetic material, amino acids and other compounds associated with life. About 25 years ago, astronomers identified glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar related to table sugar, near the center of the Milky Way. More recently, samples returned from the asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission revealed several organic molecules, including sugars linked to DNA.
Researchers believe the latest discovery strengthens the idea that many of life’s essential chemical ingredients were already present in the giant molecular clouds that eventually gave rise to stars and planetary systems, including our own Solar System. This supports one scientific hypothesis that Earth’s earliest organic compounds may have originated from the primordial material that formed the Solar System, rather than being delivered solely by comets or asteroids.
Lead study author Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrobiology in Spain, said the discovery suggests that complex organic molecules may be far more common throughout the galaxy than previously thought.
“The key ingredients for the origin of life could be present in other regions across the galaxy, opening the possibility for life to develop elsewhere in the universe,” Jiménez-Serra said.
Scientists plan to continue searching for additional sugars and other complex organic molecules in interstellar clouds to better understand how they form and evolve. Researchers hope the work will shed light on one of science’s most enduring questions: how the chemistry necessary for life first emerged and whether similar conditions exist elsewhere in the universe.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
