Story perspectives

Spanish Telescopes Spot First Interstellar Three-Carbon Sugar Near Galactic Center

7/15/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers using two dish-shaped radio telescopes in Spain detected erythrulose in a gas cloud near the Milky Way’s center.
The July 13, 2026 Nature Astronomy paper calls it the most complex sugar found in space.
Author Izaskun Jiménez-Serra says the finding suggests life-building ingredients may be widespread in the galaxy.
Erythrulose is the first three-carbon backbone sugar observed in interstellar space, extending prior ribose and glycolaldehyde detections.

History

Historical Context

In 1977, Michael Snyder’s team at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory reported formaldehyde toward Sagittarius B2, measuring a column density of ~1 × 10¹³ cm?²—only the second organic molecule after the 1937 CH detection and the first sugar-related species. Radio astronomy’s rise in the 1950s made dense clouds like Sgr B2 the premier laboratory for interstellar chemistry, a legacy that underpins today’s IRAM-30 m discovery of erythrulose.

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Story summary

Researchers using two dish-shaped radio telescopes in Spain detected erythrulose in a gas cloud near the Milky Way’s center.
The July 13, 2026 Nature Astronomy paper calls it the most complex sugar found in space.
Author Izaskun Jiménez-Serra says the finding suggests life-building ingredients may be widespread in the galaxy.
Erythrulose is the first three-carbon backbone sugar observed in interstellar space, extending prior ribose and glycolaldehyde detections.

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