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The mysterious origin of water on Earth may already have an answer
(doctor) NASA Scientific Visualization Studio / Anil Rao / University of Colorado / Maven / NASA GSFC
An artist’s impression of the interactions of the solar wind and magnetic field
New research suggests that a link between asteroid dust and solar wind is causing water to form.
The solar wind may have played a key role in the creation of water on Earth – this is the conclusion study University of Glasgow.
There have already been previous studies that showed that the meteorites were very rich in water, suggesting that it could be your collisions bring this resource to Earth and make our planet livable.
However, the water composition of these meteorites differs from that on Earth, since it contains more deuterium, a heavier form of hydrogen. So, he went back to square one in search of an answer to this riddle.
But it looks like the answer has already appeared. Luke Daly and his Glasgow colleagues studied one grain of material asteroid Itokawa, returned by the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa in 2010, writes New scientist…
The results showed that the asteroid was irradiated by particles from the solar wind, which turned a small amount of each speck of dust into water. “For every cubic meter of material, you will have 20 liters of water“This is Daly speaking.
The method used involved studying individual atoms of the asteroid using a technique known as atomic probe tomography, which may be useful in future research. Daly wants to use this method to study the grains of the asteroid Ryugu.
The solar wind mainly consists of hydrogen ions is emitted by the Sun, which combines with oxygen atoms in the asteroid’s rock to produce water. Previous research has shown that asteroids like Itokawa may have a lot of water, but it is not known where it came from.
The early stages of our solar system are believed to have been a lot of powderTherefore, under the influence of the solar wind, the particles could turn into water even before they reached the Earth’s surface. This water also contains less deuterium than asteroids.
The results can also have implications for space exploration. “Any rocky surface has small degrees, emitted by the solar wind. If we want to constantly inhabit other worlds, we can see powder as a method of water production“Then it just became our focus.
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