Traces of 'Briny Water' Found in Meteorite That Crashed Through Roof, Offering Clues to Origins of Life

Traces of salty, briny water and various organic molecules, including amino acids, have been discovered in a meteorite that crashed through the roof of a house in New Jersey after creating a massive sonic boom over New York in July 2024, providing significant clues to the origins of life.

An international research team led by Dr. Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute in the U.S. announced in the scientific journal Science Advances on July 16 that an analysis of the recovered 'Hillsborough meteorite' confirmed the presence of highly saline briny water and various organic molecules, such as amino acids, which formed beneath the surface of a primitive asteroid.

Dr. Jenniskens, the lead author of the paper, stated, "This meteorite shows, in a nearly uncontaminated state, the movement of water and chemical reactions that occurred beneath the surface of a primitive asteroid," adding, "It provides new clues to understanding the process of how life's ingredients were formed in the early solar system."

The Hillsborough meteorite entered the atmosphere in 2024 during the day at a speed of approximately 52,000 km/h (14.4 km/s). After the bright fireball caused a sonic boom over New York, one of the largest fragments crashed through the roof of a house in Hillsborough, New Jersey.

Upon hearing the loud impact, the homeowner discovered a hole in the bedroom ceiling and black fragments scattered around the bed. The homeowner immediately stored the meteorite in a glass jar using disposable gloves and aluminum foil.

The research team noted that because the meteorite was recovered shortly after impact with almost no contamination from rain or soil, they were able to precisely analyze the original chemical properties remaining in the rock.

The analysis confirmed that the meteorite is a CM-type carbonaceous chondrite, which retains materials from the early formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

In particular, it was classified as a rare CM1/2 type, which has undergone more extensive aqueous alteration than typical CM meteorites. The Hillsborough meteorite is only the second CM1/2 type meteorite in the world whose fall has been observed.

The research team analyzed a fragment of the recovered meteorite with a very high sodium concentration and identified traces of highly saline briny fluid that formed as water evaporated just below the asteroid's surface, as well as evidence that this brine moved along cracks in the rock.

While the presence of such brine has been confirmed in CI-type asteroid samples brought back from the asteroids Ryugu and Bennu, it had never before been discovered in a CM-type meteorite.

The research team explained that highly saline brine is known to facilitate chemical reactions that are difficult to achieve in ordinary water and helps maintain phosphates in a dissolved state, creating an environment that supports the formation of life's building blocks.

They further explained that the Hillsborough meteorite serves as direct evidence that such environments capable of forming life-sustaining materials existed beneath the surface of primitive asteroids in the early solar system.

Various soluble organic compounds, including amino acids and carboxylic acids—the fundamental ingredients of life—were also discovered in the meteorite.

The research team estimated that these organic molecules were not simply introduced from outer space but were created during the process of water and rock interacting within the asteroid, and that subsequent chemical reactions in the brine further transformed some of these materials into more complex forms.

They added that fragments of such CM-type asteroids continuously fell to the early Earth, and that the amino acids, carboxylic acids, and various organic molecules they carried likely played a crucial role in forming a 'prebiotic organic reservoir' before the emergence of life.

(Photo courtesy of SETI Institute, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.