(NLDO) - The thing that helps life exist on Earth turns out to originate from the death of an incomplete planet in the "dark region" of the Solar System.
A study led by the University of Heidelberg (Germany) has provided a surprising glimpse into the dawn of the Solar System, when Earth completed the final step in its formation: Possessing water - one of the most important conditions for life.
According to SciTech Daily, a meteorite called “Flensburg” that fell to the Earth's surface on September 12, 2019 "told a story".
The Flensburg meteorite holds secrets about the time when the Earth was forming - Photo: Carsten Jonas
The Flensburg is a rare carbonaceous chondrite meteorite, containing minerals that can only appear in the presence of water.
It led the way to a special parent body, born just after the formation of the Solar System.
It was a type of object called a "planetary microbe", which no longer exists today.
It has long been theorized that these planetesimals were the beginnings of today's planets: They repeatedly collided, shattered, and coalesced, until they formed clumps large enough and stable enough to become true planets.
In the early days of the Solar System, these planetesimals dwelt in the dark outer regions of the system, possibly preserving water bound in crystals.
Widely accepted models suggest that at that time, Jupiter was not fully formed and migrated to its present-day position, creating an impassable gap between the inner Solar System and the outer Solar System.
So tiny objects from the cold outside can completely move deep inside.
During the process of coalescence from the protoplanetary disk, our Earth absorbed "stray" debris from the deaths of those water-rich planetesimals.
With its favorable location in the habitable zone of the star system, Earth can easily retain water in a liquid state.
According to the above publication Scientific Reports, this discovery not only clarifies the history of the Earth but also brings new hope for a "second Earth".
Since the origin of planetesimals in other star systems would also be based on the same physical laws as our Solar System, scientists believe that there could also be planets that form in a similar way to Earth in other regions of space.
That would enable them to meet the prerequisites for the origin of life, according to co-author Professor Mario Trieloff.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/bi-mat-lanh-nguoi-moi-ve-cach-trai-dat-ra-doi-196240716091034333.htm
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