The SKA as a Prebiotic Molecule Detector

The SKA as a P ebio ic Molecule
De ec o
Izaskun Jiménez-Se a
1
*, Jesús Ma ín-Pin ado
1
, A an Insaus i
2
,
3
, Elena R. Alonso
2
,
3
,
Emilio J. Cocine o
2
,
3
and Tyle L. Bou ke
4
1
Depa men o As ophysics, Cen o de As obiología (CSIC/INTA), To ejón de A doz, Spain,
2
Depa amen o de Química Física,
Facul ad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Uni e sidad del País Vasco, (UPV-EHU), Bilbao, Spain,
3
Biofisika Ins i u e (CSIC, UPV/EHU),
Leioa, Spain,
4
SKA Obse a o y, Jod ell Bank, Macclesfield, Uni ed Kingdom
One o he heo ies o he o igin o li e p oposes ha a significan ac ion o p ebio ic
ma e ial could ha e a i ed o Ea h om ou e space be ween 4.1 and 3.8 billion yea s
ago. This sugges s ha hose p ebio ic compounds could ha e o igina ed in in e s ella
space, o be la e on inco po a ed o small Sola -sys em bodies and plane esimals. The
ecen disco e y o p ebio ic molecules such as hyd oxylamine and e hanolamine in he
in e s ella medium, s ongly suppo s his hypo hesis. Howe e , some species such as
suga s, key o he syn hesis o ibonucleo ides and o me abolic p ocesses, emain o be
disco e ed in space. The unma ched sensi i i y o he Squa e Kilome e A ay (SKA) a
cen ime e wa eleng hs will be able o de ec e en mo e complex and hea ie p ebio ic
molecules han exis ing ins umen a ion. In his con ibu ion, we illus a e he po en ial o
he SKA o de ec simple suga s wi h h ee and ou ca bon a oms, using a mode a e
in es men o obse ing ime.
Keywo ds: squa e kilome e a ay, complex o ganic molecules, p ebio ic chemis y, in e s ella medium,
as ochemis y
1 INTRODUCTION
The ques ion o he o igin o li e has a ac ed he in e es o esea che s o cen u ies. Two main lines
o hough ha e been p oposed: i) Li e may ha e eme ged endogenously so ha he building blocks o
li e could ha e o med “in si u”on Ea h; o ii) Li e could ha e o igina ed somewhe e else in he
Uni e se and been anspo ed o Ea h in small Sola -sys em bodies. Al e na i ely, an in e media e
heo y con empla es he possibili y ha a ac ion o he p ebio ic ma e ial essen ial o he o igin o
li e could ha e o igina ed exogenously and been ans e ed o a young Ea h ia plane esimal impac
on i s su ace (Ande s, 1989;Chyba and Sagan, 1992). P ebio ic molecules such as amino acids,
nucleobases and suga s ha e indeed been de ec ed in me eo i es (Coope e al., 2001;Pizza ello e al.,
2006;Callahan e al., 2011;Fu ukawa e al., 2019;Gla in e al., 2020) and in come s (Al wegg e al.,
2016), which suppo s he la e hypo hesis.
In he pas decade, i has become clea ha he in e s ella medium (ISM) is an ex ao dina y
chemical ac o y. Abou 250 molecules, including inged-molecules (see e.g., Ce nicha o e al., 2021;
McGui e e al., 2021), ha e so a been epo ed in he ISM. In addi ion, he pace a which new
molecules a e de ec ed no only seems s eady bu accele a ing (McGui e, 2021). In pa icula , he so-
called complex o ganic molecules (o COMs)
1
ha e a ac ed g ea in e es in ecen yea s since a
Edi ed by:
Ash a - Ali,
Uni e si y o Ma yland, College Pa k,
Uni ed S a es
Re iewed by:
E ic He bs ,
Uni e si y o Vi ginia, Uni ed S a es
*Co espondence:
Izaskun Jiménez-Se a
[email p o ec ed]c.es
Special y sec ion:
This a icle was submi ed o
As ochemis y,
a sec ion o he jou nal
F on ie s in As onomy and Space
Sciences
Recei ed: 26 Decembe 2021
Accep ed: 08 Feb ua y 2022
Published: 15 Ma ch 2022
Ci a ion:
Jiménez-Se a I, Ma ín-Pin ado J,
Insaus i A, Alonso ER, Cocine o EJ
and Bou ke TL (2022) The SKA as a
P ebio ic Molecule De ec o .
F on . As on. Space Sci. 9:843766.
doi: 10.3389/ spas.2022.843766
1
COMs a e defined as ca bon-based molecules wi h ≥6 a oms in hei s uc u e (as e.g., me hanol o CH
3
OH; see He bs and
an Dishoeck, 2009).
F on ie s in As onomy and Space Sciences | www. on ie sin.o g Ma ch 2022 | Volume 9 | A icle 8437661
PERSPECTIVE
published: 15 Ma ch 2022
doi: 10.3389/ spas.2022.843766
subse o hem could ha e been in ol ed in he fi s biochemical
eac ions leading o he o igin o li e. This sub-se o COMs a e
ypically called p ebio ic. Some examples o p ebio ic COMs
include u ea and hyd oxylamine (Belloche e al., 2019;
Jiménez-Se a e al., 2020;Ri illa e al., 2020) since hey a e
possible p ecu so s o ibonucleo ides (see e.g., Becke e al., 2019;
Meno Sal an e al., 2020); e hanolamine and n-p opanol because
hey could ha e igge ed he o ma ion o phospholipids
(Jiménez-Se a e al., 2022;Ri illa e al., 2021); o amino
ace oni ile, ynil amine and e hyl amine since hey a e
conside ed p ecu so s o amino acids (Belloche e al., 2008;
Zeng e al., 2021).
One o he mos ex ended heo ies abou he o igin o li e is he
p imo dial RNA wo ld. In his scena io, ea ly o ms o li e elied
solely on RNA o s o e gene ic in o ma ion and o ca alyze
chemical eac ions. The basic uni s o RNA a e
ibonucleo ides, which a e composed o a phospha e g oup, a
ni ogenous base, and a ibose suga (a C
5
suga wi h fi e ca bon
a oms). In e es ingly, only small p ecu so s o suga s such as
glycoloni ile (HOCH
2
CN; see Pa el e al., 2015) o he simples
C
2
suga molecule, glycolaldehyde (CH
2
OHCHO), ha e been
epo ed in he ISM (Hollis e al., 2000;Bel án e al., 2009;
Jø gensen e al., 2012;Zeng e al., 2019). Indeed, sea ches o C
3
suga s such as glyce aldehyde (CHOCHOHCH
2
OH) o
dihyd oxyace one (DHA, wi h he chemical o mula
CH
2
OHCOCH
2
OH), ha e no yielded any obus de ec ion
(Hollis e al., 2004;Widicus Wea e and Blake, 2005;Apponi
e al., 2006;Jiménez-Se a e al., 2020). In con as , la ge suga -
like species such as C
3
suga s and ibose ha e been ound in
me eo i es (de Ma cellus e al., 2015;Fu ukawa e al., 2019),
which opens he possibili y ha hese species o m in
in e s ella space.
The sea ch o suga s in he ISM has pa ly been hinde ed by
he lack o spec oscopic o a ional da a since hese species a e
he molabile and hyg oscopic. This has igge ed he
de elopmen o new sample p epa a ion echniques as well as
he use o ul a as lase apo iza ion sou ces o a oid hei
decomposi ion (Cocine o e al., 2012;Calab ese e al., 2020).
Recen ly, he o a ional spec oscopy o C
4
and C
5
suga s such as
e y h ulose and ibose has been ob ained in he labo a o y
(Cocine o e al., 2012;Insaus i e al., 2021), which enables
hei sea ch in in e s ella space.
2 SEARCHING FOR SUGARS IN SOURCES
WITH LOW EXCITATION
TEMPERATURES (T
EX
)
The fi s sea ches in he ISM o glyce aldehyde and
dihyd oxyace one (DHA) a ge ed he massi e s a - o ming
egion Sg B2 N-LMH. While an uppe limi o he abundance
o glyce aldehyde o ≤(2.4–5.7) × 10
–11
was ob ained by Hollis
e al. (2004),Widicus Wea e and Blake (2005) epo ed a
en a i e de ec ion o DHA owa d his sou ce wi h an
abundance o 1.2 × 10
–9
. The la e de ec ion, howe e , was
ne e confi med (Apponi e al., 2006). Fo low-mass s a -
o ming egions, Jiménez-Se a e al. (2020) also epo ed
uppe limi s o he abundance o bo h species in he ange
≤(0.6–4)×10
–10
owa d he low-mass ho co ino IRAS16293-
2422 B.
Massi e ho co es and low-mass ho co inos a e among he
mos chemically ich sou ces in he Galaxy and, adi ionally, hey
ha e been he selec ed a ge s o sea ches o new p ebio ic COMs
in he ISM (see e.g., Jø gensen e al., 2012;Belloche e al., 2014;
Jø gensen e al., 2016;Belloche e al., 2019). Thei disad an age,
howe e , lies in he ac ha hei obse ed o a ional spec a
p esen hund eds (e en housands) o di e en molecula
o a ional ansi ions as a esul o he high exci a ion
empe a u es (o T
ex
= 100–300 K). These high empe a u es
popula e a wide numbe o ene gy le els o a COM since i s
pa i ion unc ion is la ge. In addi ion, a empe a u es o
100–300 K COM o a ional spec a p esen hei peak
emission shi ed owa ds millime e and sub-millime e
wa eleng hs, which a e hea ily con amina ed by he emission
om smalle and ligh e species such as CO. Consequen ly, he
COM spec a obse ed in massi e ho co es and low-mass ho
co inos no only la gely su e om line blending and line
con usion bu also p esen weak lines due o he la ge
pa i ion unc ions expec ed a high exci a ion empe a u es.
Al e na i ely, sou ces whe e COMs show low exci a ion
empe a u es (T
ex
) ep esen be e a ge s o he sea ch and
disco e y o new la ge p ebio ic species in he ISM (Jiménez-Se a
e al., 2014)
2
. As a esul o he low T
ex
, he emission peak o he
COM obse ed spec a is shi ed owa ds lowe equencies,
which a e cleane om he con ibu ion om ligh e
molecules. In addi ion, he line in ensi ies inc ease since only
he lowes ene gy le els o he COMs can be popula ed a such low
T
ex
and so, he numbe o o a ional ansi ions p esen in he
measu ed spec a is significan ly smalle han in ho e sou ces.
The equency span o he ansi ions be ween he lowes ene gy
le els is also much la ge han o hose be ween he highe ene gy
le els, which helps educing significan ly line blending and line
con usion in he obse ed spec a (Jiménez-Se a e al., 2014).
Gian Molecula Clouds (GMCs) loca ed in he Galac ic
Cen e such as he molecula cloud G+0.693-0.027 (he ea e
G+0.693) ha e p o en o be no only e ficien chemical ac o ies
o he o ma ion o complex o ganics (Requena-To es e al.,
2006;Requena-To es e al., 2008;Zeng e al., 2018), bu also
excellen a ge s o he disco e y o new p ebio ic species (see
e.g., Jiménez-Se a e al., 2020;Ri illa e al., 2020;Ri illa e al.,
2021;Zeng e al., 2021). These clouds show low H
2
gas densi ies o
~10
4
cm
−3
and hei gas and dus empe a u es a e decoupled
(while T
dus
≤20K, T
gas
~70–150 K; see Rod íguez-Fe nández
e al., 2000;Zeng e al., 2018). The low H
2
gas densi ies also imply
ha o high-dipole momen molecules (such as COMs), and
despi e he high gas kine ic empe a u es and b oad linewid hs o
hei emission (o ~ 20 km s
−1
), hei T
ex
is low (be ween 5 and
20 K) and hus hei obse ed spec a will be less a ec ed by line
blending and line con usion. Recen sea ches o p ebio ic
molecules owa d he Galac ic Cen e molecula cloud
2
In massi e ho co es and ho co inos, T
ex
~T
kin
because o he high H
2
gas densi ies
(≥10
6
cm
−3
) ound in hese s a - o ming egions
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Jiménez-Se a e al. The SKA as a P ebio ic Molecule De ec o
G+0.693 ha e yielded he disco e y o se e al o hese species o
he fi s ime in he ISM such as hyd oxylamine (NH
2
OH; Ri illa
e al., 2020), e hanolamine (NH
2
CH
2
CH
2
OH; Ri illa e al., 2021),
hio o mic acid (HC(O)SH; Rod íguez-Almeida e al., 2021)o n-
p opanol (n-C
3
H
7
OH; Jiménez-Se a e al., 2022). As a esul ,
Galac ic Cen e GMCs a e p ime a ge s o he sea ch and
disco e y o la ge C
3
and C
4
suga s in he ISM.
3 THE POTENTIAL OF THE SKA TO DETECT
NEW PREBIOTIC SPECIES IN THE ISM: THE
CASE OF SUGARS
The Squa e Kilome e A ay (SKA) will be he la ges adio
elescope in he wo ld ope a ing a cen ime e and me e
wa eleng hs. The Phase 1 o his obse a o y will consis o
wo adio in e e ome e s loca ed a wo di e en si es: SKA1
LOW in Wes e n Aus alia and SKA1 MID in Sou h A ica
(B aun e al., 2019). SKA1 LOW will ha e 512 s a ions o 256
log pe iodic dipole an ennas each ope a ing wi hin he equency
ange be ween 50 and 350 MHz, while SKA1 MID will ha e a
o al o 197 an ennas ( ha include he 64 an ennas o he
Mee KAT a ay) ope a ing a equencies be ween 350 MHz
and 15 GHz (B aun e al., 2019). Gi en he equency co e age
and how d ama ically he s eng h o he o a ional ansi ions o
high-dipole molecules d ops o equencies ≤5GHz, SKA1 MID,
and in pa icula i s Band 5 ecei e s co e ing he equency
ange be ween 4.8 and 15.3 GHz, a e well sui ed o sea ches o
p ebio ic molecules in he ISM. On op o he ad an ages o
obse ing a cen ime e wa eleng hs no ed in Sec ion 2,i is
impo an o s ess ha adio in e e ome e s such as he SKA1
fil e ou any ex ended emission in he line o sigh o he a ge ed
sou ce, significan ly dec easing he linewid hs o he obse ed
molecula line emission and educing he le el o line blending
and line con usion. In Sec ion 3.1, we e alua e he easibili y o
de ec ing la ge suga -like species such as glyce aldehyde,
dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose in he ISM using he Band
5 ecei e s o SKA1 MID.
3.1 SKA1 Simula ions o C
3
and C
4
Suga s
in Galac ic Cen e GMCs: Glyce aldehyde,
Dihyd oxyace one and E y h ulose
The emission om COMs in he Galac ic Cen e GMCs is known
o be ex ended (Ma ín-Pin ado e al., 2001;Li e al., 2017;Li e al.,
2020). This is pa icula ly in e es ing o abso p ion s udies in
which COMs can be sea ched o agains a b igh con inuum
backg ound sou ce. This echnique may allow he de ec ion o
low-abundance COMs whose emission spec a is expec ed o be
e y weak. Indeed, in he p esence o a b igh backg ound
con inuum sou ce, he p edic ed abso p ion line in ensi y (T
L
)
is gi en by (see e.g., Ma ín e al., 2019):
TLTex −Tc−Tbg

×1−exp −τ]
()
(1)
whe e T
c
is he empe a u e o a con inuum sou ce and T
bg
is he
empe a u e o he comic mic owa e backg ound adia ion (T
bg
=
2.73 K). I T
c
≫T
ex
, his will la gely enhance he obse ed
abso p ion line in ensi y o e he emission o he T
ex
expec ed o be close o T
bg
.
The e o e, we simula e he case o abso p ion spec a o
glyce aldehyde, dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose (C
4
H
8
O
4
)
using he SLIM ool wi hin he MADCUBA so wa e package
3
(see Ma ín e al., 2019). We ocus ou simula ions on C
3
and C
4
suga s because, as discussed in Sec ion 3.2,C
5
suga s such as
ibose a e no expec ed o be abundan enough o be de ec ed wi h
SKA1 in a easonable amoun o obse ing ime. We assume he
physical condi ions o he G+0.693 molecula cloud wi h a ypical
T
ex
o ≤10K, linewid hs o Δ
=20kms
−1
and ex ended
mo phology ac oss he SKA1 beam o he COMs emission
(Zeng e al., 2020). As backg ound sou ce, we conside he L
sou ce loca ed in he Sg B2 N complex, which is a b igh HII
egion ound nea by he emission peak o G+0.693, and whose
measu ed flux a 23 GHz is ~ 300 mJy wi hin a beam o ~ 1”(de
P ee e al., 1995). We ha e assumed ha he emission om he
HII egion is op ically hin and hus, ha i shows an almos fla
spec al ene gy dis ibu ion be ween 23 and 10 GHz. The
simula ions ha e been ob ained conside ing a beam o 1”,
which will easily be eached by he SKA1 a he equencies o
he Band 5 ecei e s o SKA1 MID (see B aun e al., 2019). The
spec oscopic da a o glyce aldehyde ha e been ex ac ed om
FIGURE 1 | P edic ed abso p ion spec a o he C
3
and C
4
suga s
glyce aldehyde, dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose ob ained wi h he SLIM
ool o he MADCUBA package conside ing he physical condi ions o he
G+0.693 molecula cloud (T
ex
= 10K, linewid hs o Δ
=20kms
−1
and
ex ended emission ac oss he beam) and a backg ound sou ce simila o he L
sou ce in he Sg B2 N molecula complex (measu ed flux o ~300 mJy wi hin a
beam o 1″a 10 GHz). The assumed column densi ies o glyce aldehyde and
dihyd oxyace one a e 10
13
cm
−2
and 6.8× 10
12
cm
−2
, espec i ely, while o
e y h ulose we assume a column densi y one o de o magni ude lowe han
ha o glyce aldehyde (o 10
12
cm
−2
; see Sec ion 3.1).
3
MADCUBA, o MAd id Da a CUBe Analysis, is a so wa e de eloped a he
Cen e o As obiology in Mad id: h ps://cab.in a-csic.es/madcuba/index.h ml
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Jiménez-Se a e al. The SKA as a P ebio ic Molecule De ec o
he CDMS ca alogue (en y 090501; End es e al., 2016), while he
da a o dihyd oxyace one is a ailable in he JPL molecula
ca alogue (en y 90002; Picke e al., 1998). The spec oscopic
in o ma ion o e y h ulose can be ound in Insaus i e al. (2021).
As column densi ies, we ha e assumed ha glyce aldehyde
and dihyd oxyace one ha e column densi ies o 10
13
cm
−2
and
6.8 × 10
12
cm
−2
, espec i ely. These column densi ies co espond
o he uppe limi s ob ained owa d G+0.693 in p e ious spec al
su eys (see Table2 in Jiménez-Se a e al., 2020). Fo e y h ulose,
we conside ha his C
4
suga is a ac o o 10 less abundan han
he C
3
suga glyce aldehyde, wi h an assumed column densi y o
10
12
cm
−2
o e y h ulose. We no e ha his dec ease by one o de
o magni ude in he column densi y o molecules om he same
amily when one ca bon a om is added o he molecula s uc u e,
has been epo ed o alcohols (Jiménez-Se a e al., 2022) and
hiols (Rod íguez-Almeida e al., 2021). The assumed spec al
esolu ion conside ed in ou simula ions is 79.3 kHz (equi alen
o a eloci y esolu ion be ween ~1.6 and 5.0 km s
−1
) ac oss he
ull Band 5 equency co e age.
Figu e 1 p esen s he p edic ed abso p ion spec a o
glyce aldehyde, dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose ob ained o
he ex ended GMC G+0.693 agains he backg ound sou ce L.
Depending on he s uc u e o he molecule, he ansi ions ha
show he la ge abso p ion dep hs lie in he ange be ween 4.8 and
7.0 GHz o glyce aldehyde and e y h ulose, and 8–14 GHz o
dihyd oxyace one. The maximum bandwid h ha will be co e ed
simul aneously by he Band 5 ecei e s o SKA1 MID in i s Phase
1 is 4 GHz a equencies be ween 4.6 and 8.5 GHz, and 5 GHz o
equencies be ween 8.3 and 15.3 GHz. Gi en ha he deepes
abso p ion lines appea clus e ed wi hin equency anges o ≤4-
5 GHz-wid h, u u e de ec ion expe imen s o hese lines wi h
SKA1 MID could be ca ied ou in jus wo obse ing uns: one o
simul aneously co e all he deepes ea u es o glyce aldehyde
and e y h ulose, and a second one o simul aneously co e all he
ansi ions o dihyd oxyace one. We s ess ha Figu e 1 includes
all possible ansi ions o hese C
3
and C
4
suga s a ailable wi hin
he equency ange co e ed by he Band 5 ecei e s o SKA1
MID. The in ensi ies o he deepes abso p ion ea u es in ou
simula ed spec a each alues o −0.47 mJy o glyce aldehyde, o
−0.17 mJy o dihyd oxyace one, and −0.01 mJy o e y h ulose.
Table1 lis s he spec oscopic in o ma ion o he deepes ea u es
ound in ou p edic ed spec a o each molecule. In Sec ion 3.2,
we e alua e he obse ing ime equi ed o pe o m hese
de ec ion expe imen s wi h SKA1 MID du ing i s Phase 1 o
ope a ions, which will ha e only 133 an ennas equipped wi h
Band 5 ecei e s.
3.2 Time Es ima es and Key Science
P ojec s
As seen om Table1, he p edic ed in ensi ies o he deepes
abso p ion ea u es lie in he ange be ween −0.19 and −0.5 mJy
o glyce aldehyde, −0.13 and −0.2 mJy o dihyd oxyace one,
and −0.006 and −0.01 mJy o e y h ulose. Acco ding o B aun
e al. (2019), a line sensi i i y o 90 μJy will be achie ed in 1 hou
o obse ing ime wi h he Band 5 ecei e s o SKA1 MID a
equencies o 4.6–8.5 GHz, and o 85 μJy a equencies o
8.5–15.3 GHz, o a eloci y esolu ion o ~ 30km s
−1
.
Taking hese numbe s in o accoun , he deepes abso p ion line o
glyce aldehyde a 4955 MHz could be de ec ed wi h a S/N ≥5injus
8.5 h assuming a eloci y esolu ion o 3 km s
−1
.Theweakes
ansi ions o glyce aldehyde a 4835 MHz and a 6240 MHz,
howe e , would equi e abou 50 h o obse ing ime o a simila
eloci y esolu ion and S/N. This is also he case o dihyd oxyace one,
o which a o al o ≥100h s o in eg a ion ime on-sou ce would be
needed o de ec i s weakes ansi ions a 8391 and 11 731 MHz wi h
aS/N≥5anda eloci y esolu iono 3kms
−1
.Amo e ime-
consuming expe imen would ha e o be pe o med o he disco e y
o he deepes abso p ion ea u es o e y h ulose. In o de o de ec
he e y h ulose ansi ion a 4609 MHz wi h a S/N ≥3, and
conside ing a eloci y esolu ion o 20 km s
−1
(i.e., he linewid h o
he molecula emission in G+0.693; see Zeng e al., 2018), a o al o
≥1100h s o obse ing ime on-sou ce would be equi ed.
The ime es ima es o pe o m he de ec ion expe imen s o
glyce aldehyde, dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose p oposed
abo e, may seem excessi e. Howe e , we no e ha hese long
TABLE 1 | Lis o ansi ions o glyce aldehyde, dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose ha p esen he deepes ea u es in he simula ed spec a.
Molecule Fo mula F equency (MHz) T ansi ion Log [In (300K)] E
l
(cm
−1
)I
dep h
(mJy)
Glyce aldehyde CHOCHOHCH
2
OH 4,955.499 8 6
2,5
→6
1,5
−7.700 2 3.845 8 −0.488
5,907.255 6 5
2,4
→5
1,4
−7.671 5 2.780 5 −0.360
6,762.410 3 4
2,3
→4
1,3
−7.693 1 1.888 8 −0.260
4,835.648 0 12
3,10
→12
2,10
−7.449 5 14.253 8 −0.223
6,240.130 2 11
3,9
→11
2,9
−7.312 7 12.128 5 −0.186
Dihyd oxyace one CH
2
OHCOCH
2
OH 9,605.934 2 4
1,3
→4
0,4
−7.686 9 1.258 4 −0.172
10 540.639 1 5
1,4
→5
0,5
−7.544 6 1.883 7 −0.166
8,898.373 3 3
1,2
→3
0,3
−7.842 7 0.756 3 −0.161
11 731.758 5 6
1,5
→6
0,6
−7.410 4 2.630 8 −0.147
8,391.965 5 2
1,1
→2
0,2
−8.025 3 0.378 6 −0.132
E y h ulose C
4
H
8
O
4
4,609.671 9 10
3,8
→10
2,8
−8.320 5 5.159 2 −0.010
5,583.487 0 9
3,7
→9
2,7
−8.244 2 4.262 4 −0.007 5
5,131.326 5 2
2,1
→2
1,1
−9.051 3 0.332 9 −0.0071
a
5,131.411 5 2
0,2
→1
0,1
−8.806 1 0.086 1 −0.0071
a
6,508.324 0 8
3,6
→8
2,6
−8.199 3.452 2 −0.006 1
a
In ensi y o he ea u e esul ing om he blending o he wo indica ed ansi ions.
F on ie s in As onomy and Space Sciences | www. on ie sin.o g Ma ch 2022 | Volume 9 | A icle 8437664
Jiménez-Se a e al. The SKA as a P ebio ic Molecule De ec o
in eg a ion imes a e con empla ed wi hin he u u e Key Science
P ojec s (KSPs) scheme ha will be ca ied ou by he SKA1. The
KSPs a e majo su eys a ge ing g ound-b eaking
ans o ma ional science in As ophysics and As obiology ha
equi e conside able amoun o ime. The e o e, he expec ed
in eg a ion ime eques s o hese p ojec s a e ypically o a ew
housands o hou s, which gua an ees he de ec ion o a leas C
3
suga s such as glyce aldehyde and dihyd oxyace one, i p esen in
he ISM. As discussed in Sec ion 4, he disco e y o C
4
suga s
such as e y h ulose may equi e he de elopmen o u u e
ins umen a ion o SKA1 MID such as he high- equency
Band 6 ecei e s.
We no e ha , when pe o ming deep in eg a ions as p oposed
he e, i is expec ed ha he le el o line con usion inc eases e en
a he low equencies co e ed by he SKA1 as a consequence o
weak ea u es o low-abundance molecules becoming b igh in
he spec a. Howe e , his po en ial p oblem is likely no an issue
o he disco e y o in e media e-sized species such as C
3
and C
4
suga s. As ecen ly ound by Jiménez-Se a e al. (2022) and by
Rod íguez-Almeida e al. (2021), he addi ion o a −CH
2
g oup o
he s uc u e o alcohols, hiols, isocyana es, and ca boxylic acids
implies a dec ease in hei abundance by a leas one o de o
magni ude (see also Sec ion 3.1). This dec ease in he abundance
would imply an inc ease in he equi ed SKA1 obse ing ime by a
ac o o 100 and hus, o a easonable in eg a ion ime wi hin
he con ex o SKA1 Key Science P ojec s, he only suga s o
which abso p ion ea u es could be de ec ed wi h SKA1 a e he C
3
and he C
4
suga s oge he wi h hei lowes -ene gy con o me s.
Indeed, o he case o n-p opanol, only he Ga and Aa
con o me s wi h ela i e ene gies o E = 0 K and E = 40 K,
ha e been ound owa d G+0.693 ( he es o con o me s wi h
ene gies >50K do no show any de ec ed ea u es; see Jiménez-
Se a e al., 2022). The e o e, al hough he con o me s o C
3
and
C
4
suga s as well as e en la ge suga s may be p esen in Galac ic
Cen e Gian Molecula Clouds such as G+0.693, hese species
likely do no con use much he obse ed SKA1 spec um because
ei he hei abundance is oo low (as o C
5
suga s such as ibose)
o hei low-ene gy le els a e no popula ed a he low exci a ion
empe a u es measu ed in hese clouds (as o high-ene gy
con o me s).
4 FUTURE EXPANSION OF THE SKA: THE
BAND 6 RECEIVERS
F om Sec ion 3.2, i is clea ha , while ela i ely small molecules
such as glyce aldehyde o dihyd oxyace one could be de ec ed
wi h a mode a e in es men o SKA1 MID obse ing ime, la ge
p ebio ic COMs such as e y h ulose would s ill be well below he
limi o wha he SKA1 will be able o de ec in i s Phase 1. Fo his
eason, one possible u u e expansion o SKA1 MID con empla es
he de elopmen o highe - equency ecei e (s), he Band 6
ecei e s, which will inc ease he equency co e age o SKA1
MID o highe equencies om 15.3 up o 50 GHz. As epo ed
in Memo 20-01 o SKA1 i led “SKA1 Beyond 15 GHz: The
Science case o Band 6”(see Conway e al., 2021), high-dipole
momen molecules such as COMs p esen o a ional ansi ions
a equencies ≥20GHz ha can be ac o s ≥10 b igh e han
hose ound a equencies ≤15GHz (see Sec ion 3.3.1 in his
Memo). This is due o he ac ha he Eins ein A
ul
coe ficien s
inc ease as ]
3
wi h ]being he equency, making hem one o de
o magni ude highe a 36 GHz han a 12 GHz. This implies ha
obse ing imes abou ~100 imes sho e would be needed o
de ec he C
4
suga e y h ulose in he ISM, educing he o al
obse ing ime needed o he disco e y o his species om
≥1100h s o a ew ens o hou s (o a mos , o a ew hund eds o
hou s). The e o e, i hese ecei e s we e finally included in he
de elopmen p og am o he SKA1, hey would make his
obse a o y an unbea eable machine o he disco e y o la ge
p ebio ic compounds in space.
5 CONCLUSION
In his con ibu ion, we e alua e he easibili y o de ec ing small
suga s in he ISM using he Band 5 ecei e s o SKA1 in i s Phase 1.
Ou simula ions show ha Galac ic Cen e Gian Molecula Clouds
such as G+0.693 ep esen p ime a ge s o u u e sea ches o hese
key p ebio ic species in space. As shown in Sec ion 3.1, hede ec ion
o small suga s could be achie ed by ca ying ou b oad spec oscopic
su eys be ween 5 and 14 GHz in abso p ion agains a b igh
con inuum backg ound sou ce. By aking as empla e he L HII
egion sou ce loca ed in he Sg B2 N molecula complex, we es ima e
ha he de ec ion o C
3
suga s could be achie ed in a ew hund eds o
hou s. La ge C
4
suga s such as e y h ulose would equi e housands
o hou s o obse ing ime. Fu u e de elopmen s o he SKA such as
heBand6 ecei e s(whichwillinc ease he equencyco e ageo
SKA1 MID up o, a leas , 24 GHz), will enable he sea ch o hese
la ge suga s and o he p ebio ic COMs in jus a ew hund eds
o hou s.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The o iginal con ibu ions p esen ed in he s udy a e included in
he a icle/supplemen a y ma e ial, u he inqui ies can be
di ec ed o he co esponding au ho .
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
IJ-S has w i en he fi s e sion o he manusc ip . IJ-S and JM-P
ha e p oduced he MADCUBA-SLIM simula ions o he spec a
o glyce aldehyde, dihyd oxyace one and e y h ulose epo ed in
Sec ion 3.1. All au ho s ha e con ibu ed o he discussion o he
esul s and ha e p o ided commen s on he ex .
FUNDING
IJ-S and JM-P acknowledge pa ial suppo om he Spanish S a e
Resea ch Agency (AEI) h ough p ojec numbe s PID 2019-
105552RB-C41 and MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia
Ma ía de Maez u-Cen o de As obiología (CSIC-INTA). EC
F on ie s in As onomy and Space Sciences | www. on ie sin.o g Ma ch 2022 | Volume 9 | A icle 8437665
Jiménez-Se a e al. The SKA as a P ebio ic Molecule De ec o

hanks he suppo ecei ed om he MINECO (PID 2020-
117892RB-I00), he Basque Go e nmen (IT1162-19 and PIBA
2018-11), he UPV/EHU (PPG17/10, GIU18/207), and CSIC (PIC
2018, LINKA20249). Compu a ional esou ces and lase acili ies o
he UPV/EHU (SGIke ) and CESGA we e used in his wo k.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like o hank an anonymous e e ee o his/he posi i e
and cons uc i e commen s on an ea lie e sion o he
manusc ip .
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Jiménez-Se a e al. The SKA as a P ebio ic Molecule De ec o