Asteroid dust collected by a Japanese space probe contains organic material that indicates that some of the building blocks of life on Earth may have formed in space, scientists said on Friday.
Virgin material from the asteroid Ryugu was returned to Earth in 2020 after a six-year mission to the celestial body about 300 million kilometers away.
But scientists are just beginning to discover its secrets in the first studies in small portions of 5.4 grams (0.2 ounces) of dust and dark, tiny rocks.
In a paper released Friday, a team of researchers led by Okayama University in western Japan said they had discovered “amino acids and other organic matter that could provide clues to the origin of life on Earth.”
“The discovery of protein-forming amino acids is important because Ryugu has not been exposed to the Earth’s biosphere like meteorites, and therefore their detection shows that at least some of the building blocks of life on Earth could have formed in space. environments, “the study said.
The team said it found 23 different types of amino acids in a sample test collected by Japan’s Hayabusa-2 detector in 2019.
Dust and rocks were stirred when the fridge-sized spacecraft launched a “percussion” on the asteroid.
“The Ryugu specimen has the most primitive features of any natural specimen available to mankind, including meteorites,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement.
Part of the material is believed to have formed about five million years after the birth of the solar system and has not heated above 100 degrees Celsius (210 degrees Fahrenheit).
Another study published in the American Journal Science He said the material had “a chemical composition that looks more like the Sun’s photosphere than other natural samples”.
Kensei Kobayashi, an astrobiology specialist and emeritus professor at Yokohama National University, welcomed the discovery.
“Scientists have questioned how organic matter – including amino acids – was created or came from, and the fact that the amino acids were discovered in the sample offers reason to believe that the amino acids were transported to Earth from space. he told AFP.
Another basic theory about the origin of amino acids is that they were created in the Earth’s primitive atmosphere by lightning, for example, after the Earth’s cooling.
What happened before, during and after the formation of the solar system? The study of the asteroid Ryugu has the answers
© 2022 AFP
Reference: Asteroid samples contain “clues to the origin of life”: Japanese scientists (2022, June 12) retrieved on June 12, 2022 from
This document is subject to copyright. Except for any fair transaction for the purposes of private study or research, no part of this site may be reproduced without our written permission. Content is provided for informational purposes only.
