London – Al-Quds Al-Arabi: Japanese scientists have discovered a strange source of water on the surface of the globe, following a six-year study, in which a space mission participated, and then came to a new and surprising result.
And Japanese scientists analyzed rare samples collected in a Japanese space mission that lasted six years, and found that quantities of water may have reached Earth by asteroids from the far reaches of the solar system.
To shed light on the origins of life and the formation of the universe, researchers are examining materials returned to Earth in 2020 from the asteroid Ryugu.
5.4 grams of rock and dust were collected by a Japanese space probe called “Hayabusa-2” that landed on the celestial body and launched an “impact” on its surface.
And last June, researchers said they had found organic matter that showed that some of the basic pillars of life on Earth, such as amino acids, may have formed in space.
In a new study, the results of which were published in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists said that the Ryugu samples might give clues to the mystery of how the oceans appeared on Earth billions of years ago.
“Type C asteroids that are volatile and rich in organic matter may have been one of the main sources of Earth’s water,” said the study, conducted by scientists from Japan and other countries.
She noted that “the delivery of volatiles, ie organic matter and water, to Earth is still a matter of great debate.” But the organic matter “in the Ryugu particles, identified in this study, may represent an important source of volatiles.”
Scientists hypothesized that such materials may have an “extrasolar origin”, but said that “it is unlikely to be the only source of volatiles that reached the early Earth.”
Hayabusa 2 was launched in 2014 on its mission to Ryugu, some 300 million kilometers away, and returned to Earth’s orbit two years ago to return a capsule containing the sample.
In the Nature Astronomy study, researchers once more praised the results made available by the Japanese space mission.
“The Ryugu particles are undoubtedly among the most uncontaminated solar system materials available for laboratory studies, and ongoing investigations of these precious samples are sure to broaden our understanding of the processes the early solar system experienced,” the study said.
