Sugar found in interstellar space

What's happened

Researchers have detected erythrulose, a four-carbon sugar, in the interstellar medium near the Milky Way’s center. The finding supports theories that sugars essential to life could form in space and arrive on Earth via comets and asteroids. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, suggests that millions of tonnes of erythrulose may have rained down on Earth during the Late Heavy Bombardment.

What's behind the headline?

Brief

• What happened: researchers have detected erythrulose in interstellar space, a biomolecule thought to be important for the origin of life.
• Why it matters: supports theories that essential sugars can form in space and travel to planets via comets/asteroids.
• What’s next: scientists will search for more sugars in other regions of the galaxy to map how common these molecules are and how they transform.

Writing note

The finding strengthens the link between space chemistry and the origin of life on Earth. It also raises questions about how much material Earth received during periods like the Late Heavy Bombardment and how those molecules contributed to prebiotic chemistry.

How we got here

The discovery builds on prior detections of sugars in meteorites and on the Bennu asteroid, but marks the first direct detection of a sugar in the interstellar medium. Using two radio telescopes in Spain, researchers matched observed signals with lab spectra to identify erythrulose, a likely product of reactions on dust grains at frigid temperatures. The work emphasizes a possible extraterrestrial origin for key prebiotic molecules and invites further searches for sugars across the galaxy.

Our analysis

Independent reports in Nature Astronomy; New York Times / AP News coverage; The Guardian coverage echoing Jime9nez-Serra’s team; comments from Izaskun Jime9nez-Serra and Erika Hamden.

Go deeper

• How much erythrulose could have reached Earth?
• What role does this play in prebiotic chemistry on early Earth?
• Are there other sugars in interstellar space to look for next?

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  Nature Astronomy is an online, peer reviewed, scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group, owned by Springer Nature. It was first published in January 2017, although the first content appeared online in December 2016. The Chief Editor is M

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• National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Agency

  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.

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