A fireball passed over the United Kingdom on February 28, 2021, leaving behind fragments of a meteorite near the town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It was the first meteorite to hit the UK in 30 years, and a hunt was launched to find the fragments. Scientists found these celestial fragments very quickly and immediately removed them from Earth pollution. This meant that the fragments could be analyzed almost like samples collected directly from an asteroid. Now these pieces provide new information about the early Solar System.
This meteorite was already classified as one of the rarest species. In a new paper, a team from the Natural History Museum of London and the University of Glasgow describe their first laboratory analysis of the meteorite. The study found that space rock contains about 10 percent water by weight and is quite similar to Earth’s water. This suggests that this class of meteorites, known as carbonaceous chondrites, must have played a crucial role in bringing water to our planet.
Study author Dr. “Carbon chondrites are incredibly reactive and degrade rapidly in Earth’s atmosphere, changing their original mineralogy and composition. But for Winchcombe, Earth had almost no time to react with its environment, so we know everything in it is 100 percent extraterrestrial, including the 10 percent water it contains.”
Also, there is not only water. The sample contained evidence of important carbon and nitrogen-based molecules. Among them were amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. These, along with water, are believed to play a key role in the evolution of life on Earth. Winchcombe is a rare type of carbonaceous chondrite known as CM, of which only 15 have been recorded.
“Life as we know it needs two fundamental things to have a chance to emerge: water and organic molecules like amino acids – the Winchcombe meteorite has both,” says Daly. It’s probably an important source of water for Earth because it’s rich in substances – and because Winchcombe is recovered so quickly, we know it didn’t change until its time on Earth. Winchcombe and other CMs served as the basis for everything a growing planet with an ambition to foster life needs. It’s the only address.”
The incredibly fast recovery of this object was made possible by the UK Fireball Alliance (UK Fireball Alliance), 16 cameras, and multiple public reports that allowed researchers to quickly track where the object fell, which turned out to be one that fell into the driveway. Visitors in the United Kingdom have the opportunity to view these extraordinary specimens of meteorite, which are on public display at various locations, including the Natural History Museum in London.
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