Scientists have found water and organic matter on the surface of an asteroid sample collected from the solar system – the first time such material has been found on an asteroid.
The sample, which was just a grain, came from the asteroid "Itokawa" by the first Hayabusa mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) in 2010.
It's water and organic matter that doesn't come from an alien world, but from the asteroid itself. Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, report that the asteroid evolved over billions of years, incorporating liquid and organic material in the same way that Earth does .
The asteroid has faced extreme heat, dehydration and fragmentation, but has managed to reshape and rehydrate. The study also shows that S-type asteroids – which are the most common ones to come to Earth – can contain the ingredients for life.
This could reshape our knowledge of the history of life on Earth, which has previously focused on carbon-rich C-type asteroids.
The scientists' research, titled "Organic matter and water from the asteroid Itokawa," was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
We hope that analyzing this sample will lay the groundwork for more detailed analysis of other samples. Jaxa's Hayabusa2 mission collected pieces of the asteroid Ryugu last year, bringing back to Earth a piece of the celestial rock that was just 38 centimeters in diameter.
In 2019, samples from the asteroid Bennu revealed that it was actually older than scientists previously believed, providing a new look at how the Solar System.
Observations of Bennu also confirmed the presence of widespread and abundant hydrated materials, as well as the presence of large boulders.
Source of information: independent.co.uk
