Meteorite that fell on a Cotswolds driveway contains extra-terrestrial water
Extra-terrestrial water has been found in a British meteorite for the first time - and it closely resembles Earth's oceans, scientists have confirmed.
The Winchcombe meteorite landed on a driveway in Gloucestershire in February last year, and was found so soon after impact that researchers believe it is one of the most pristine ever discovered.
The chunk of space rock came from the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, and crucially contains significant amounts of water which match closely to that on Earth, as well as amino acids - important building blocks of life.
Many scientists believe that life began on Earth following bombardment by asteroids or comets containing life-giving ingredients. But most that have been studied contain water that is a different composition to that found on our planet.
More: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/09/16/winchcombe-meteorite-landed-uk-driveway-contains-extra-terrestrial/
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I also spotted this in the news and, given that the information is right, places an added importance to this theory of how the Earth got its water; and, in extension, that the potentials of similar(?) life elsewhere are improved as well.
Time will tell!
- Hugh
Meteorite that landed in Cotswolds may solve mystery of Earth's water
Water covers three-quarters of the Earth's surface and was crucial for the emergence of life, but its origins have remained a subject of active debate among scientists.
Now, a 4.6bn-year-old rock that crashed on to a driveway in Gloucestershire last year has provided some of the most compelling evidence to date that water arrived on Earth from asteroids in the outer solar system.
The Winchcombe meteorite, one of the "most pristine" available for analysis, offered scientists "a tantalising glimpse back through time to the original composition of the solar system 4.6bn years-ago", said Dr Ashley King, a research fellow at the Natural History Museum in London and author of a new paper on the space rock.
More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/16/meteorite-that-landed-in-cotswolds-may-solve-mystery-of-earths-water
The Winchcombe meteorite, a unique and pristine witness from the outer solar system
Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid. Recovered only hours after falling, the composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is largely unmodified by the terrestrial environment. It contains abundant hydrated silicates formed during fluid-rock reactions, and carbon- and nitrogen-bearing organic matter including soluble protein amino acids. The near-pristine hydrogen isotopic composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is comparable to the terrestrial hydrosphere, providing further evidence that volatile-rich carbonaceous asteroids played an important role in the origin of Earth's water.
More: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq3925
Winchcombe meteorite's history revealed by fresh analysis
She said: "The Winchcombe meteorite is a remarkable piece of space history."
The rock travelled for millions of years before reaching Earth.
Researchers said in its early days the meteorite was an ice-bearing dry rock, but over millions of years ice melted into a ball of mud, which was repeatedly broken apart and reassembled.
Findings suggest it formed from chunks of other rocks cemented together - like broken pieces from multiple jigsaws mashed together - in what is known as breccia.
More: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68817230