In new research, meteorites dating back to the dawn of the solar system may have contained liquid water plus other precursors for life to Earth billions of years ago.
What are Meteorites and Where Do They Come From?
According to NASA, when objects in space that can range from grain-sized to small asteroids (meteoroids) enter a planet at high velocity known as "shooting stars" (meteors), and survives atmospheric impact, and hits the ground, it is called a meteorite.
Experts estimate that about 44,000 kilograms of meteoritic material fall to the Earth daily. Most are vaporized upon entering the Earth's atmosphere that leaves a bright train most of us call "shooting stars."
Water and Precursors of Life Hidden Inside Meteorites
Recently, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft studied and analyzed the subsurface of the asteroid Ryugu. It was found that fluid flowed on carbonaceous chondrites at some point. However, scientists are still baffled and are trying to pinpoint how recently this phenomenon might have occurred.
Previous dating models showed water might have been present on these space rocks as early as 4.5 billion years ago.
Carbonaceous chondrites are stony meteorites that date back to the beginning of the solar system. It has been found that these pieces of space rock contain clues as to the origin of the solar system, its age, and how life came forward.
In terms of chemical composition, chondrites were formed at lower temperatures, similar to the sun. Its depletion of helium and hydrogen makes the carbonaceous chondrites the most primitive material in the solar system.
The tantalizing pieces of information such as minerals in the water, amino acids, and organic compounds--the precursors of life, have been found in these rocks.
In the past, scientists have been using these materials to trace the origins of the solar system and is a leading candidate on how water ended up on our planet.
An isotope geochemist from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, says carbonaceous chondrites have led to a hypothesis wherein any alteration and water presence is ancient. The tests run were in hopes of finding out whether young alterations could have been made.
According to Turner, ice was found in the meteorites. In a study recently published in Science, Turner, with his colleagues, describes the liquid flow in carbonaceous chondrites.
Here, the team discovered that some chondrites contained remnants of fluid flow within the past few hundred years, which can be considered reasonably recent compared to other space and geological timescales.
The team used uranium-thorium dating to identify and date the water flow from space rock samples. The question to be answered was not when the meteorites began, but when liquid moved within the rock.
It is discovered that some carbonaceous chondrites have fluid movement until recently, which equates to the theory that some samples may contain ice as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago.
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