Deep Space Meteorite entering the Asteroid Belt might be responsible for life on Earth

New research using magnetism has given significant data which will help the scientists in understanding the early origins of the solar system. The data will also help them in understanding why some planets such as Earth became habitable and were able to sustain conditions conducive for life, while others, like Mars, did not. A report published on the University of Rochester’s official website reveals that researchers were able to use magnetism to determine when the carbonaceous chondrite asteroids first arrived in the inner solar system. These asteroids are rich in water and amino acids.

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But what role does magnetism play in this…

John Tarduno and William R. Kenan are two professors at the University of Rochester. They mentioned in the report that in the science community there is special interest in defining history. It helps in understanding the formation and condition of the exoplanets. In fact, understanding meteorites and asteroids have also been important to understand how our solar system was formed and how the earth sustained life. In order to learn more about the origin of meteorites and their parent bodies, Tarduno and his team of researchers studied magnetic data collected from the Allende meteorite. This meteorite had fallen on Earth and had landed in Mexico in 1969.

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A NASA report has revealed that the Allende meteorite is the largest carbonaceous chondrite meteorite found on Earth and contains minerals that are thought to be the first solids formed in the solar system. In fact, it is one of the most studied meteorites. In the scientific community, this meteorite was considered for decades to be the classic example of a meteorite from a primitive asteroid parent body. Magnetism is a property of Allende's unusual magnetic minerals. Having solved this paradox, one Tim O’Brien, a researcher on this project was able to identify meteorites with other minerals that could record early solar system magnetisations.

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So what was the parent body of the Allende meteorite? 

The report on University of Rochester’s website states that using simulations and data, the researchers determined that the parent asteroids from which the carbonaceous chondrite meteorite broke off arrived in the Asteroid Belt from the outer solar system. This migration took place about 4,562 million years ago, within the first five million years of solar system history. This early motion of carbonaceous chondrite asteroids probably set the stage for the further scattering of water-rich bodies and the potential development of Earth and the solar system.

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