Meteor breakthrough as ‘alien world’ fluids found in fallen rock – Space News – News
Scientific research, peer review, and forensic chemical analysis of this depth typically take one to two years to complete (Image: SNWS)
A meteorite that crashed into a residence in the United States two years ago contains “salty” fluids that scientists believe may represent building blocks of life.
Researchers suggest the “alien world” chemistry discovered within the space rock could potentially generate molecules essential to life on Earth. A daytime meteor rattled New York City with a sonic boom as it traveled south of the Statue of Liberty on July 16, 2024. Shortly afterward, a meteorite weighing more than two pounds penetrated the roof of a home in Hillsborough, New Jersey.
Findings from an extensive examination of the Hillsborough meteorite, conducted by an international research team including scientists from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) – an organization dedicated to finding life beyond Earth, have now been released in the journal Science Advances.
Lead researcher Dr. Peter Jenniskens, from the SETI Institute, explained: “A forensic study of the fragments revealed that they contained preserved bits from near the surface of a primitive asteroid where it experienced concentrated salty fluids – a process not previously known from this type of proto planet world.”
He noted that on that particular day, a rock approximately the size of a heavy airline bag penetrated Earth’s atmosphere traveling at 32,000 miles per hour.
Meteorite kept secret for two years
Following the impact on July 16, 2024, the homeowners spent weeks carefully gathering the fragments (Image: SWNS )
Sixty witnesses across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania reported sightings to the American Meteor Society, while 16 individuals in New York and New Jersey experienced the shockwave.
American Meteor Society operations manager Mike Hankey explained: “Our cameras in Northford, Connecticut, and Douglassville, Pennsylvania, as well as a doorbell camera in Wayne, New Jersey, captured the meteor, and from that we measured its trajectory.
“The path traced back to low in the asteroid belt.”
The space rock was fragile and rapidly disintegrated into fragments.
The meteor disappeared from view at an altitude of 22 miles.
Following its disappearance, Doppler weather radar at Newark Airport momentarily detected an elongated cloud of descending pebbles extending from Staten Island into New Jersey.
Hillsborough sat at the distant end of that debris cloud, where the heaviest fragments landed.
Just one piece was retrieved because it struck a residence.
The homeowner stated: “I was at home at the time, heard a loud crash and found a hole in the ceiling of the master bedroom.
Results are now public
“I smelled a strong sulphur-like odor and saw many black fragments along with debris and black dust that covered my bed, carpet and surrounding areas.”
He promptly preserved and documented the complete scene using disposable gloves and aluminum foil to place the meteorite fragments in glass jars.
When researchers analyzed the specimens, they identified it as belonging to one of two recognized categories of primitive meteorites known as CM-type carbonaceous chondrites, where the letter “M” references the Mighei meteorite that descended in Ukraine in 1889.
Study co-author Dr. Mike Zolensky, of NASA, reported that analysis revealed fragments from the meteorite’s parent asteroid had undergone far more extensive water alteration than is typically observed in CM2 carbonaceous chondrites.
He noted it was the 22nd observed CM-type meteorite fall, but only the second witnessed fall of a CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite, following the Kolang meteorite that fell in North Sumatra, Indonesia, in 2020.
Dr. Jenniskens stated: “Thanks to the homeowner’s quick reaction, these are the most pristine CM1/2 meteorites we know of.”
Dr. Zolensky and colleague Dr. Jangmi Han discovered small salt-rich CM1 fragments within the Hillsborough meteorite, indicating they originated from a near-surface region of the parent asteroid where liquid water evaporated and left concentrated salts behind.
The researchers are currently working to identify the salt minerals for comparison with similar phases found among samples returned to Earth from other asteroids.
According to the research team, the elevated salt concentration in briny fluids could potentially generate molecules essential to life on Earth.
They further explained that brines enable phosphate to remain in solution and can trigger chemical reactions between organic compounds and precipitate minerals.
Cosmochemist Dr. Queenie Chan, of Royal Holloway University of London, added: “Isotope studies of carbon and nitrogen suggest that primitive carbonaceous chondrites, including CM-types, delivered organic matter to the early Earth.
“The Hillsborough meteorite contained 1.8% by weight of carbon and 0.07% of nitrogen, and had carbon and nitrogen isotopes typical for CM-type meteorites.”
According to researchers, the meteorite held a diverse array of soluble organic compounds, with its compositional profile indicating that the Hillsborough meteorite experienced more water-based alteration than most other CM-type meteorites.
Organic mass spectrometry specialist Professor Phil Schmitt-Kopplin, of Technical University Munich, Germany, stated: “A high fraction of compounds were the product of organic chemistry with minerals.
“We do not know if these magnesium organic compounds were contributed by brine chemistry or were simply left over from earlier impact shock processes.”
He noted that, in living organisms, organo-metallic compounds are present in blood and utilized in photosynthesis.
The soluble organic compounds also included numerous amino acids.
NASA astrobiologist Dr. Danny Glavin and his research team determined that the delivery of amino acids, carboxylic acids, and other soluble organic molecules by CM-type bodies may have added to the prebiotic organic inventory that preceded life’s emergence on Earth.
Their findings suggest the intricate distribution of amino acids detected in the Hillsborough meteorite developed within the parent body, probably aided by brine fluid chemistry.
Some of the meteorite fragments will now be displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Curator Denton Ebel stated: “We are thrilled that nature delivered such a precious asteroid sample on our doorstep.”
