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In a sweet discovery, astronomers find sugar lurking in the space between stars
NBC News • • general
Key Points:
- Astronomers have detected erythrulose, a sugar also found in raspberries and self-tanners, in the interstellar medium between stars using radio telescopes in Spain.
- This discovery marks the latest and one of the most complex sugars found in space, located in a gas cloud near the Milky Way's center, a region traversed by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft.
- Sugars like erythrulose are important because they can convert into forms thought to be crucial for initiating life on Earth, supporting theories that life's building blocks existed in space before forming our solar system.
- The findings suggest that key ingredients for life may be widespread across the galaxy, raising the possibility that life could develop elsewhere in the universe.
- Researchers aim to continue searching for more sugars in space to better understand their formation and role in the origins of life.
