2024-02-14 00:00:00
For the first time, scientists at the Southwest Research Institute have discovered water molecules on the surface of an asteroid. Scientists investigated four silicate-rich asteroids using the FORCAST instrument to isolate mid-infrared spectral signatures indicating the presence of molecular water on two of them.
According to the phys website, using data from the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint project between NASA and the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center, scientists made this discovery.
“Asteroids are leftovers from the planetary formation process, so their compositions vary depending on where they formed in the solar nebula,” said Dr. Anisia Arredondo, lead researcher of a paper in the Planetary Science Journal regarding the discovery. “Of particular interest is the distribution of water on asteroids.” “Because that might shed light on how water is delivered to the ground.”
Anhydrous, or dry, silicate asteroids form near the Sun while icy material collects farther away, and understanding the location and composition of asteroids tells us how the material in the solar nebula has been distributed and evolved since its formation.
The distribution of water in our solar system will provide knowledge of the distribution of water in other solar systems, and because water is essential for all life on Earth, it will lead us to search for potential life, both in our solar system and beyond.
Arredondo explained: “We discovered a feature that was unambiguously attributed to molecular water on the asteroids Eris and Massalia, and based our research on the success of the team that found molecular water on the sunlit surface of the moon, we thought we might use SOFIA to find this spectral signature on the objects.” “other.”
“Based on the strength of the range of spectral features, the abundance of water on the asteroid is consistent with the abundance of water on the sunlit Moon,” Arredondo confirmed. “Similarly, on asteroids, water can also be associated with minerals.”
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