Asteroids may be the reason Earth is covered in water

Add a little acid, some herbs, and you have an interplanetary salad dressing

Researchers assembled a mixture of water, ammonia, and carbon monoxide, which they then exposed to ultraviolet light, mimicking conditions in outer space.

The interstellar organic matter analog producing water droplets and oil as the heating temperature rose. At 102 °C, analog of organic matter was uniform. At 350 °C, water droplets were clearly seen. At 400 °C, black oil was evidently produced. Image credit: Hideyuki Nakano et al. / Scientific Reports, May 8, 2020

“Then, they gradually heated the organic matter analog from 24 to 400 ℃ under a pressured condition in a diamond anvil cell. The sample was uniform until 100 ℃, but was separated into two phases at 200 ℃. At approximately 350 ℃, the formation of water droplets became evident and the sizes of the droplets increased as the temperature rose. At 400 ℃, in addition to water droplets, black oil was produced,” researchers report.

When heated to high temperatures, interstellar organic matter releases both water and oil, this new study found. This would suggest that the ultimate origin of water on Earth could be inside the snow line, rather than vast numbers of comets colliding with Earth.

“Our results show that the interstellar organic matter inside the snow line is a potential source of water on the earth. Moreover, the abiotic oil formation we observed suggests more extensive sources of petroleum for the ancient Earth than previously thought,” Kouchi stated.

The oil produced in these experiments was similar, in many ways, to the crude oil taken from beneath the ground.

Later this year, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 will bring samples of the asteroid Ryugu to Earth. Astronomers hope that analyzing organic material in this sample will help answer the question of the origin of water on Earth.

This article was originally published on The Cosmic Companion by James Maynard, founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion. He is a New England native turned desert rat in Tucson, where he lives with his lovely wife, Nicole, and Max the Cat. You can read this original piece here.

Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion is also available as a weekly podcast, carried on all major podcast providers. Tune in every Tuesday for updates on the latest astronomy news, and interviews with astronomers and other researchers working to uncover the nature of the Universe.