Sugar found in the central region of the Milky Way

Astronomers have detected the presence of erythrose, a simple sugar, in a dense cloud of gas and dust located in the central region of the Milky Way galaxy. This significant discovery was made possible through highly sensitive observations, extensive frequency coverage, and precise laboratory spectroscopic data.

Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, a co-author of the study and researcher at the Spanish National Research Council, highlighted that the target astronomical object, G+0.693-0.027, is known for its rich chemical inventory, which increased the probability of detecting such a molecule. The presence of erythrose is particularly relevant to the study of the origins of life, as it is a sugar that alters the configuration of threose, a sugar believed to be a precursor to the first nucleic acids, RNA and DNA.

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A kivételesen érzékeny megfigyelések, a kiterjedt frekvencia-lefedettség és a rendkívül pontos laboratóriumi spektroszkópiai adatok kombinációjának köszönhetően tudtuk elérni ezt a fontos detektálást

Previously, sugars like ribose and glucose, essential building blocks for life, have been found in meteorites and asteroids within our solar system, notably in samples returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission from the Bennu asteroid. These findings indicated that these vital components were not exclusive to Earth. However, scientists had struggled to explain how erythrose could have been produced under the conditions of early Earth.

This new detection of erythrose in an interstellar gas and dust cloud suggests that this sugar could have formed in the vastness of space from simpler molecules on dust grains. It may have then become incorporated into rocky planets, like Earth, as they formed from interstellar clouds. The researchers propose that key components for life, including ribose, glucose, and erythrose, might have been part of Earth's 'sugar supply' even before the planet's complete formation, originating from the interstellar medium.

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Ezenkívül a csillagászati célpontunk is (a G+0.693-0.027) a galaxis egyik leggazdagabb kémiai leltárával rendelkezik, ami jelentősen megnövelte a detektálás valószínűségét