Astronomy : Did
Meteorites bring water to the earth
In previous article, we had discussed about the origin of
life on earth that it was made possible by chemical reactions in the space and
building blocks of life was found in the meteorites that have fallen on the
earth.
Now another astonishing discovery that supports the role of
chemical reactions in the space and its role in originating and evolution of
life on earth has been made.
Scientists have discovered that there is a high probability
that water which forms the basis of creation of life on earth might have been
brought to earth by meteorites from space.
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such
as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives
its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon.
Meteorite
According to the article by new scientist , link given below
, some of the meteorites that fell on earth recently had contained in them
liquid water within the past million years. This may imply that space rocks
brought water to the surface of the earth throughout the history of the earth.
These meteorites were once a part of asteroids that were
formed 4.5 billion years ago.
According to a research conducted by Mr Simon Turner , when
ice melts in a meteorite, the water and water soluble elements move from one
part of the rock to another. Hence evidence of presence of water soluble
elements such as uranium and comparing
their concentration with non water soluble elements can help in detection of eveidence of
presence of water.
Full link in New Scientist Magazine is below :
Asteroids
Asteroids are rocky worlds revolving around the sun that are
too small to be called planets. They are also known as planetoids or minor
planets.
There are millions of
asteroids, ranging in size from hundreds of miles to several feet across. In
total, the mass of all the asteroids is less than that of Earth's moon.
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Asteroid
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