Did life come from dust particles given off by an asteroid?
Researchers found that interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) were able to deliver water and organic compounds to Earth and other planets, a University of Hawaii news release reported.
These dust particles either come from objects such as astroids and comets, or are leftover debris from the formation of the birth of our solar system. These dust particles "continuously" rain down on Earth.
The particles are hit by solar winds that are mostly made up of hydrogen ions. The bombardment knocks the silicate mineral crystal atoms out of order and "leaves behind" oxygen which is able to react with hydrogen and create water.
"It is a thrilling possibility that this influx of dust has acted as a continuous rainfall of little reaction vessels containing both the water and organics needed for the eventual origin of life on Earth and possibly Mars," Hope Ishii, new Associate Researcher in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) at UHM SOEST and co-author of the study, said in the news release.
The moon is composed of ubiquitous silicate minerals and is often exposed to wind irradiation, this means water can form. This could explain the water ice detected on dark spots of the moon.
"Perhaps more exciting," Ishii said, "interplanetary dust, especially dust from primitive asteroids and comets, has long been known to carry organic carbon species that survive entering the Earth's atmosphere, and we have now demonstrated that it also carries solar-wind-generated water. So we have shown for the first time that water and organics can be delivered together."
Since the Apollo moon visits, when astronauts brought back soil and rock samples, researchers have known that moon dust's chemical composition is influenced by solar winds. Until now they were unsure if this reaction could actually produce water.
The researchers used an electron microscope to detect "water produced by solar-wind irradiation" by looking at thin rims on silicate materials; they were able to confirm "wind hydrogen ions (H+) with oxygen in the silicate mineral grains."
"In no way do we suggest that it was sufficient to form oceans, for example," Ishii said. "However, the relevance of our work is not the origin of the Earth's oceans but that we have shown continuous, co-delivery of water and organics intimately intermixed."
