‘Very similar’ water found on meteorite that fell on UK in 2021. Read here

Ashley King, a researcher in the Planetary Materials Group at the Natural History Museum, has shared that about 12% of the sample was water and it is also the least contaminated specimen collected so far, according to a report in The Independent.

The researcher also said that the extraterrestrial water found on the meteorite was “very, very similar” to the composition of water on Earth.

“It’s really good evidence that asteroids and bodies like Winchcombe made a very important contribution to Earth’s oceans,” King told the British Science Festival The Independent.

A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid that originated in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon.

King confirmed that because the 0.5kg space rock was recovered quickly – within 12 hours – it was not contaminated by water and materials on Earth.

Well, “one of the big questions we have in planetary science is where did the water on Earth come from? And one of the obvious places is either through comets, which contain tons of ice, or through asteroids. There is always a debate – were comets the main source, were asteroids the main source? King said loudly Sky news.

However, the researcher explained that data from missions on comets suggests they don’t pair well with Earth’s water. “The composition of the water at Winchcombe is a much better match, which would mean that asteroids — carbonaceous asteroids — were likely the main source of water for the inner solar system and Earth,” he said.

King said the meteorite came from an asteroid somewhere near Jupiter. He shared that it formed about 4.6 billion years ago and took about 300,000 years to travel to Earth.

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