Recently, researchers discovered the first evidence of organic matter essential for life on Earth on the surface of an S-type asteroid.
An international team of researchers conducted an in-depth analysis of one of the particles reported from the asteroid Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission of the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) in 2010.
Most of the asteroids on Earth originate from S-type asteroids like Itokawa, so knowing that it may contain the ingredients essential for life on our planet is a significant step forward in understanding our knowledge of the formation of life conditions. . So far, most research on organics has focused on carbon-rich asteroids (class C).
Examining the sample, the team found that organic matter from the asteroid itself had evolved over time under extreme conditions, including water and organic matter from other sources.
This is similar to what happens on Earth, giving us a better understanding of how the earliest possible terrestrial biochemical forms were simply an extension of the chemical process that took place within many subspecies on the planet.
“These findings are really interesting because they reveal intricate details about the history of an asteroid and its evolutionary path is very similar to that of prebiotic Earth,” Earth scientist Queenie Chan said. From Royal Holloway University in London.
Taking a step back, we are forced to consider how elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon can combine to form incredibly complex molecules capable of organizing into things that function like RNA, proteins and fatty acids.
In the 1950s, when researchers delved into the conundrum of how simpler ingredients could naturally cook organic soup, experiments revealed that balls on the Earth’s surface could work well.
Almost seven decades later, our focus is on slow, steady chemical processes in the very rocks that converge on our own world.
The evidence is not hard to find. It is now clear that constant hail and ice billions of years ago could have brought cyanide, ribose sugar and even amino acid molecules along with large amounts of water to the surface of the Earth. Earth.
But the chemical levels of meteorites that may have been contaminated with things on Earth can still be questionable.
Since Hayabusa dates back ten years, more than 900 pristine asteroid dust particles have been extracted and stored in a JAXA cleanroom.
Fewer than 10 have been studied for organic chemistry markers, all of which contain molecules primarily made up of carbon.
Itokawa is what is known as a rocky (or silicon), or S-class asteroid. After initial studies of its material, it is also believed to be a common chondrite rock – a space rock. The relatively unchanged parent represents the more primitive state of the solar system.
Chan and his colleagues took just one of these dust particles, one 30 micrometers wide, and performed a detailed analysis of its structure, including research into the composition of the water.
They found many different carbon compounds, including markers for disturbed polymorphic molecules of apparent extraterrestrial origin and graphite structures.
Heated organic material reveals that the asteroid has been heated to over 600 degrees C in the past. Reproduction of primordial organic matter arrived at the surface of Itokawa after the asteroid cooled.
With new evidence, the question of the origin of life and the uniqueness of Earth is one that we will research for a long time to come.
