Earth is incredibly rich in water compared to other rocky planets in the solar system. Ever since Isaac Newton proposed that Earth’s water came from comets, astronomers have debated the unknown source why our planet is the bluest in the solar system. Now, an international team of researchers led by the University of Glasgow (UK), including those at the Curtin Space Science and Technology Center (SSTC), has discovered that the solar wind, made up of charged particles from the Sun composed largely by hydrogen ions, it created water on the surface of asteroid-borne dust grains that slammed into Earth during the early days of the solar system.
“One existing theory is that water was brought to Earth in the final stages of its formation in C-type asteroids, however previous tests of the isotopic ‘fingerprint’ of these asteroids found that, on average, they did not match the water found. on Earth, which means there was at least one other unknown source , “said Phil Bland of Curtin University in a statement. “Our research suggests that the solar wind created water on the surface of small dust grains and this isotopically lighter water probably provided the rest of the water on Earth,” continues the expert.
The researchers studied samples of the asteroid Itokawa – an ordinary chondrite asteroid – collected by the Hayabusa mission of the Japanese Space Agency, and returned to Earth in 2010, to study how the surface of the grain was affected by special weathering, observing a fine layer (about 50-60 nanometers) rich in water (up to 1%) in the surface area of a small grain of this asteroid.
Atom by atom analysis
They confirmed that the water from the asteroid has an extraterrestrial origin, but not because the analyzed grains had been contaminated when they reached our planet, Earth, but because the source is our star.
The water in this asteroid is produced by the solar wind, since, when the solar wind interacts with the tiny dust particles found in certain asteroids, it can create a small amount of water, which could explain part of the liquid we find. here on our planet.
Thus, by measuring everything around these particles, including hidden parts of the Sun, the team found enriched hydroxide and water at the edges on all sides. This suggests that hydrogen ions from the Sun ‘implanted’ into the rock, storing water where it cannot be touched.
“Our world-class atomic probe tomography system allowed us to take an incredibly detailed look within the first 50 nanometers or so of the surface of the Itokawa dust grains, which we found contained enough water that, if magnified, it would be equivalent to about 20 liters for each cubic meter of rock, “says Luke Daly, leader of the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
This discovery suggests that isolated grains of dust in space could become a major source of water in our solar system that we could potentially collect in the future.
“Our research shows that the same space weathering process that created water at Itokawa likely occurred on other airless planets , meaning that astronauts can process fresh supplies of water directly from dust on the surface of a planet, such as the Moon.” , the authors conclude.
Referencia: Luke Daly, Lee, M.R., Hallis, L.J. et al. Solar wind contributions to Earth’s oceans, Nature Astronomy (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-021-01487-w. www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01487-w
