{"id":963,"date":"2026-07-29T11:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-07-29-first-true-sugar-in-space-en\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:52:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:52:58","slug":"2026-07-29-first-true-sugar-in-space-en","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-07-29-first-true-sugar-in-space-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Space just got sweeter: the first \u201ctrue sugar\u201d found between the stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-07-29 11:52 KST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Astronomers detected erythrulose in a molecular cloud about 8.2 kiloparsecs away near the Galactic Centre.<\/p>\n

It is the first \u201ctrue sugar\u201d identified in interstellar space, but it is not evidence of life or a lump of table sugar.<\/p>\n

What makes it a first<\/h2>\n

Erythrulose is a four-carbon ketose with a carbonyl group and multiple hydroxyl groups, satisfying the chemical definition used by the researchers for a true sugar.<\/p>\n

Sugar-related molecules had been found in space before, but not a sugar itself meeting these conditions in the interstellar medium.<\/p>\n

Two radio telescopes caught the fingerprint<\/h2>\n

The team observed cloud G+0.693-0.027 with Spain\u2019s Yebes 40-metre and IRAM 30-metre radio telescopes.<\/p>\n

Multiple rotational spectral lines matched laboratory measurements, with separate instruments and frequency ranges supporting the identification.<\/p>\n

\"Explanatory
ONEPRESS explanatory image: visualizes the interstellar cloud and molecular detection; it is not an actual observation image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was more abundant than smaller sugars<\/h2>\n

Erythrulose was calculated to be at least eight times more abundant than analogous three-carbon sugars that the same search did not detect.<\/p>\n

That complicates the simple expectation that larger molecules must always be scarcer and offers a clue for revising interstellar chemical networks.<\/p>\n

The cosmic ingredient shelf just expanded<\/h2>\n

Sugars participate in terrestrial energy metabolism and the backbone of genetic material. Their formation in cold space broadens the chemistry available to planet-forming material.<\/p>\n

Delivery by comets or meteorites remains a hypothesis; this observation proves neither delivery to early planets nor the emergence of life.<\/p>\n

Neither sweet to taste nor a life signal<\/h2>\n

The abundance is tiny and the target is a distant cloud measured through radio spectra. It is not an edible deposit or a trace of extraterrestrial organisms.<\/p>\n

Repeated detections in other clouds and experiments on its formation route are needed to establish how widespread cosmic sugar chemistry is.<\/p>\n

Official primary sources<\/h2>\n

Primary source: Nature Astronomy paper<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary source: CAB\/INTA-CSIC announcement<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary source: Towson University announcement<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Astronomers detected the four-carbon ketose erythrulose in a cloud near the Galactic Centre, the first true sugar identified in interstellar space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-963","briefing","type-briefing","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/briefing"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}