The weather radar is for detecting hail and rain, said the curator of the Field Museum in Chicago and an associate professor at the University of Chicago, in a statement. “These meteorite fragments came within that size range, and so the weather radar helped show the meteorite’s location and velocity. That means we were able to find it very quickly.”
Elements on Earth, including liquid water, can alter the meteor’s chemical makeup before it is collected.
But the Hamburg meteorite – which gathered less than two days after it fell to Earth – is a prime example of a large-scale meteorite.
Meteor hunters Robert W. Ward found the first fragments of a meteorite sitting on the frozen surface of Strawberry Lake near Hamburg, Michigan. Ward and private collector Terry Boud Drox donated the area to the museum for a meteor shower to be studied.
“This meteorite is special because it fell on a frozen lake and it recovered quickly. It was very ancient. We can see that the minerals did not change much and later found out that it has a rich inventory of organic compounds from the outside world. ” “Such organic compounds were probably delivered to early Earth by te meteors and could contribute to the elements of life.”
The study, published in the Journal of Meteorotics and Planetary Science on Tuesday.
“When I arrived in the meteor field, I analyzed it all weekend, because I was so excited to find out what kind of meteor it was and what it contained,” said Jenica Greer, co-author of the study and a student of the doctor. Field and the University of Chicago, in a statement.
“With each meteor falling, there is a chance that something new and completely unexpected.”
Here is what they learned.
Souvenir from space
The Hamburg meteorite is largely ancient because it was collected so quickly after it fell to Earth. This means that the meteor did not sit long enough to become debris, to start cutting its metals, to become contaminated by cracks in the water, or to change its minerals (like olivine).
This rapid recovery of the meteor makes it “significant”, Hack told CNN. Said in an email. And because of the buzz around the meteorite, it was well studied and analyzed by researchers from 24 different organizations.
Scientists believe that the Hamburg meteorite was launched from its parent planet about 12 million years ago, passing through space until it came to Earth. The meteorite’s analysis revealed that the rocks fell into cosmic rays while zipping into space for 12 million years.
The meteor planet came from an asteroid that billion. formed billions of years ago, about 200 million years after the formation of our solar system.
It formed 2,600 different organic compounds covering the Hamburg meteorite Parent planet.
This is what is known as H4Chandrite, a type of meteorite that is not rich in organisms.
“This shows the diversity of meteorites, if anyone is interested in studying the organism, it’s not usually the type of meteor that they would ask to see,” Greer said. “But since there’s so much excitement around it, everyone wants to apply their own technique, so we have unusually extensive data for a meteorite.”
In particular, carbonaceous chondritis is a thousand times richer in organisms than H4 chondritis, Hack said. Nearby, the Earth’s asteroid Bennu, which was recently sampled by NASA’s OSIRIIRIS-Rex mission, is rich in carbon.
“These common chondrite meteors were rich in organisms, supporting the hypothesis that meteors played a key role in delivering organic compounds to the Earth’s surface,” Heck said. “Before the creation of life and possibly the Earth delivered some building blocks for life on Earth, meteors fell on our planet throughout the Earth’s history.”
The organic matter in the meteorite was originally heated to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit once, while it was still part of its parent planet. This actually reduced the diversity of organic compounds in meteorites from millions to thousands. But Heck was still amazed at how many biological compounds were in the heat of the meteorite despite the heat-felt changes.
The researchers found hydrocarbons, as well as compounds containing sulfur and nitrogen.
“More work needs to be done to better understand the individual chemical pathways of different compounds and the different processes that go through organic matter,” Hacken said.
The Hamburg meteorite can be compared with other specimens collected in the future – including the original samples being returned from the asteroid by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Haibusa 2 mission and NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission. The first sample from the asteroid Ryugu will be delivered to Earth by Haibusa 2 in December, while the Bennu sample will return in 2023.
“But we’re also in search of a new meteor shower,” Hack said. “Every meteorite that falls to Earth is suitable for study, as it provides a unique perspective on the solar system and can bring new light to its history and our origins.”
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