The Artemis II crew captured this photo of the Milky Way. Scientists said Monday that they've discovered erythrulose, a sugar also found in raspberries, in a gas cloud near the center of the galaxy. Photo by NASA/UPI | License Photo
July 13 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered erythrulose, a type of sugar also found in raspberries, in a gas cloud near the center of the Milky Way, the galaxy that also includes our solar system.
This is the first time that researchers have discovered this sugar outside our solar system, although they have found other sugars, including ribose and glucose, in meteorites and asteroids. The study was published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Along with water and carbon, sugars are a key ingredient in life as we know it. They help to provide energy and serve other important purposes, researchers said.
"We were able to achieve this detection thanks to the combination of exceptionally sensitive observations, extensive frequency coverage and highly accurate laboratory spectroscopic data," said Dr. Izaskun Jiménez-Serra, study co-author and staff researcher at the Spanish National Research Council. "In addition, our astronomical target is one of the richest chemical inventories in the galaxy, which enhances the probabilities of detection."
