Sugar Found In Space
Scientists detected sugar molecules in a Milky Way dust cloud for the first time.
Summary
Astronomers have detected erythrulose, a sugar found in raspberries and used in self-tanning products, in a giant molecular cloud near the Milky Way’s center about 26,745 light-years from Earth. The molecule was identified in the interstellar medium, the thin gas-and-dust material between stars, and reported in Nature Astronomy. The finding marks the first reported detection of this sugar in interstellar space. Its presence adds evidence that life-relevant organic compounds, including sugars, can form in space and may have been delivered to the early Earth.
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