Scientists have learned a great deal about the origin of life on Earth from asteroids in outer space and meteorites that have crashed to the planet.
Scientists are hoping to discover more about the origins of life on Earth through missions like the OSI RIS-REx mission, which is said to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu and return it to Earth.
In a recent breakthrough, it is believed that a meteorite known as Kamargaon, which crashed around seven years ago in Kamargaon town in the Golaghat district of Assam, India, holds the key to understanding the origin of life. It is possible that everything began in the centre of stars based on the meteorite’s chemical composition.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur claim to have found unusual vesicular olivine and pyroxene in minerals in a meteorite from the outer solar system.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, was a collaboration between researchers from Hiroshima University in Japan and the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad.
Previous studies have shown that life requires volatile components like oxygen, carbon, sodium, manganese, and sulphur. Due to the possibility that it will reveal information about Earthlings, tracking the presence of these components and any other space beings is crucial.
Sujoy Ghosh of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur’s Department of Geology and Geophysics explains, “Our prime interest is to know how the planet Earth was formed. This study provides evidence of volatile elements, for example, sulfur, sodium, manganese, and iron in the Kamargaon meteorite, which are crucial elements for the origin of life.”
• What is the Kamargaon meteorite?
This meteorite that crashed in Assam village is said to have come from the asteroid belt, which is positioned between Mars and Jupiter and includes the majority of the asteroids.
The study claims that the asteroid’s collision with another asteroid caused the space rock to fracture.
Some of the smaller asteroids’ bits that were scattered by the collision eventually came to rest on the Earth’s surface.
The study claims that a massive asteroid reaching over 6.4 kilometres in size created the Kamargaon meteorite.
