A group of ancient space rocks could be the ones responsible for the presence of water on Earth. Researchers say the Erigone family of asteroids may have brought H20 to our planet.
Astronomers trying to piece together the history of these tiny space rocks that are thought to have once transported water to Earth are seeing a glimpse into the past thanks to a family of primitive asteroids.
Eight asteroid families retain their primordial chemistry. The pristine samples are of great interest to astronomers because their primitive compositions may provide information about the solar system's environment during the formation of the parent asteroids of these families.
In other words, they might enable us to see into the past solar system's mysteries. To document the chemical makeup of these asteroid families, planetary scientist Noemí Pinilla-Alonso of the University of Central Florida has been co-leading a project called the Primitive Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (PRIMASS).
Brittany Harvison, a Ph.D. student of Pinilla-Alonso, finished the work by analyzing infrared data of the Erigone family of primitive asteroids, the last asteroid family examined for the PRIMASS project. Cosmologically speaking, the Erigone family is relatively young, and the collision that gave rise to it is estimated to have happened only 130 million years ago.
According to Harvison in a statement, there are theories that some of the Earth's water may have come from early solar system asteroids. Understanding how these primitive asteroids were brought into Earth's orbit forms a significant part of these ideas. Therefore, investigating ancient asteroids in the solar system may shed light on what happened all those years ago.
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