2023-07-15 01:11:41
Scientists analyzed several different groups of possible organic compounds on Mars. The finding provides information about its potential to host life.
Billions of years ago Mater would have been a place with seas and rivers. Scientists believe that the Jezero crater was an ancient lake where organisms would have inhabited, it was at this point where recently a set of organic compounds was identified.
On February 18, 2021, the NASA’s Perseverance rover he landed in Jezero, the site of an ancient lake and river delta. The robot looks for signs of ancient life and collects samples of broken rock and soil to analyze the geological past of this planet.
“The presence and distribution of preserved organic matter on the surface of Mars can provide key information about the Martian carbon cycle and the planet’s potential to support life throughout its history”, mentions the research published in Nature. “Several types of organic molecules have previously been detected in Martian meteorites and in Gale Crater.”
We suggest you: This is Mars, the enigmatic “red planet” of the Solar System
Molecules of organic compounds on Mars
He robotic vehicle it had already detected organic compounds before. However, the complex organic molecules found on this occasion, allow us to obtain vital information about history and the potential of Mars to host life.
The University of Florida (UF), home of some of the researchers, considered that the detection consistent with organic molecules on the martian surface, suggests the past habitability of the Red Planet. The study presented by the researchers mentions that signals consistent with Molecules linked to aqueous processes.
“The potential detection of various organic carbon species on Mars has implications for understanding the carbon cycle on Mars and the planet’s potential to support life throughout its history,” said Williams, a professor in UF’s Department of Geological Sciences. .
The results, says the investigation, indicate that there may have been a more complex organic geochemical cycle than that described from previous measurements.
“Los key building blocks for life may have been present for an extended period of time, along with other as yet undetected chemical species that could be preserved within these two potentially habitable paleodepositional settings in Jezero Crater,” the publication notes.
You can also read: Perseverance confirms that the Jezero crater was a huge lake on Mars that could harbor life
Sherloc, the detective sent to Mars
The finding was possible thanks to the instrument SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), uno de las 7 herramientas del rover. Su trabajo allows to map the distribution of organic molecules and minerals on rock surfaces.
The confirmation and specific identification of molecules will require that the samples are sent to Earth for analysis in the laboratory. “It will be a complex and ambitious process that will span many years,” say the researchers.
Keep reading:
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