Astronomers have detected a natural sugar called erythrulose in a massive cloud of dust and gas near the center of the Milky Way.
This compound, also found in raspberries and used in fake tan lotions, is the first sugar ever identified in interstellar space.
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The discovery indicates that molecules crucial for life can form in the frigid expanse between stars.
Erythrulose appears to be produced through chemical reactions on tiny interstellar dust grains, which then rain down on nearby planets or reach them via comets.
“This is the very first sugar to be detected in interstellar space and it is important because it tells us that these sugars are more common than we previously thought,” said Dr. Izaskun Jiménez-Serra at Spain’s Centre for Astrobiology near Madrid.
“It opens the possibility for life to develop on other worlds in a similar fashion to what it did on Earth.”
Scientists have long puzzled over how simple sugars became abundant on Earth, as lab studies show they would not have formed easily on the young planet.
Jiménez-Serra and her team used two Spanish radio telescopes to observe a dust cloud called G+0.693-0.027 near the galactic center.
After finding no trace of three-carbon sugars, they were not optimistic about finding others. But then they spotted the signature of erythrulose, a four-carbon sugar.
“To my surprise, I saw the signals,” Jiménez-Serra said.
