The discovery of organic matter contained withing a meteorite has raised a tantalizing prospect of being able to take inventory of molecules that were present in early Earth.
The Sutter Mill meteorite, found in California last year after it landed in a huge fireball, was able to provide scientists with evidence of organic matter within the stone, something that has never been found before.
This indicates that there could have been a much larger sourcing of organic material from extraterrestrial source than thought until now. This could also explain further and with more clarity the molecular evolution of the planet and the birth of life.
The research of the Sutter Mill meteorite was published as "Processing of meteoritic organic materials as a possible analog of early molecular evolution in planetary environments." by several scientists, including Sandra Pizzariello of ASU and Lynda Williams also from ASU.
Sutter Mill is the site of the first gold discovery that sparked the Gold Rush in 1849. The meteorite's fall was detected by Doppler radar and therefore quickly extracted from its landing site, before any of its component might have degraded or be contaminated. This could be then, the most pristine meteorite ever recovered.
Obviously some of the organic matter has been changed by the heat of the atmospheric entry into our planet, but still, the chemical molecules are still there.
Most of the organic molecules found were linear and branched plyethers, of which there was quite a staggering number.
This addition to the already known extraterrestrial organic compounds furthers the discourse on the nature and origin of the building blocks that have enabled life to flourish, since some of these molecules are essential precursors to life.
Source : Science Daily/ 9.11.13
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