Scientists have "struck gold" with the contents of a recent meteorite that fell to Earth.
A fireball that exploded over California last year could hold clues to the early evolution of organic molecules here on Earth.
The Sutter's Mill meteorite contained molecules never-before-seen in a fallen extraterrestrial object, an Arizona State University press release reported. This finding suggests a whole realm of organic matter was available to early-Earth that scientists had not considered before.
Sutter's Mill is the where the first gold was discovered that spawned the crazed 1849 California Gold Rush.
Doppler weather radar picked up the falling meteorite immediately, so scientists were able to recover the object before it was overly exposed the natural elements.
"The analyses of meteorites never cease to surprise you ... and make you wonder," study leader Sandra Pizzarello, a research professor in ASU's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said.
"This is a meteorite whose organics had been found altered by heat and of little appeal for bio- or prebiotic chemistry, yet the very Solar System processes that lead to its alteration seem also to have brought about novel and complex molecules of definite prebiotic interest such as polyethers," she said.
The research team "hydrothermally treated fragments of the meteorite and then detected the compounds released by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry." The hydrothermal conditions were similar to Earth's earliest state of being.
A "complex mixture of oxygen-rich compounds" was emitted by the hydrothermal atmosphere, which included a surprising variety of long chain linear and branched polyethers.
The Sutter's Mill meteorite was not the only extraterrestrial object that made a grand appearance on Earth over the past year. In February a bus sized meteor exploded over a Russian city, injuring at least 1,000 people, Space.com reported.
A fireball shot across the Georgia and Alabama skies on Sept. 8, nobody was injured but the object produced a spectacular light show and sonic booms, AL.com reported.
