First time Extraterrestrial water discovered in a meteorite that crashed in England. As it is now known, the small rock that fell on a link road to the town of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire last February contains valuable clues about the origin of water in Earth’s oceans.
About 12% of the sample consisted of water Ashley King, a researcher in the planetary materials group at the Museum of Natural History, told Sky News that it offers scientists huge opportunities for knowledge, as it is the least polluted specimen ever collected.
“The composition of this water is very, very similar to the composition of the water in the Earth’s oceans.“, He claimed.
“This is very good evidence that asteroids and objects like Winchcombe are a very important contribution to Earth’s oceans.”
Because the meteorite (weighing 0.5 kg) healed rapidly in about 12 hours, There was no time for it to become contaminated with water or materials from Earth.
“For most meteorites, the challenge we have is that they’re just contaminated, whereas the Winchcombe meteorite we really know isn’t, so it’s a good example,” he added.
Where did the water on earth come from?
King continued: “One of the biggest questions we have in planetary science is, Where did the water on earth come from? And one of the obvious places is comets or other asteroids that contain a lot of ice.”
“There is always the same debate: were comets the main source, or were asteroids the main source?” the scientist said.
However, he noted that data from probes sent to comets show that comets are not a good explanation for water on Earth. “The composition of the water in Winchcombe rock is a much better explanation, so it means that asteroids, carbonaceous asteroids, are probably the main source of water for the inner solar system and Earth.”.
“We now have a really new meteorite that we know hasn’t been altered, and that confirms the story,” he stressed.
King, the analysis of the meteorite It comes from an asteroid located somewhere near Jupiter.
It is believed to have formed about 4.6 billion years ago and took about 300,000 years to reach Earth.
Reference article: https://news.sky.com/story/extra-terrestrial-water-found-for-first-time-in-meteorite-that-landed-in-uk-12699481
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