Graphic of the sun, solar winds, and itokawa. Credit: Curtin University
Curtin University scientists have assisted decipher the enduring secret of the origins of the Earths water, discovering the Sun to be an unexpected most likely source.
A University of Glasgow-led worldwide team of scientists consisting of those from Curtins Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC) discovered the solar wind, made up of charged particles from the Sun mainly made from hydrogen ions, developed water on the surface area of dust grains continued asteroids that smashed into the Earth throughout the early days of the Solar System.
SSTC Director, John Curtin Distinguished Professor Phil Bland stated the Earth was extremely water-rich compared to other rocky planets in the Solar System, with oceans covering more than 70 percent of its surface area, and researchers had actually long puzzled over the specific source of everything.
” An existing theory is that water was brought to Earth in the lasts of its development on C-type asteroids, nevertheless, previous screening of the isotopic finger print of these asteroids found they, typically, didnt match with the water found in the world suggesting there was at least one other unaccounted for source,” Professor Bland stated.
” Our research recommends the solar wind created water on the surface area of tiny dust grains and this isotopically lighter water most likely supplied the remainder of the Earths water.
” This brand-new solar wind theory is based upon careful atom-by-atom analysis of small pieces of an S-type near-Earth asteroid understood as Itokawa, samples of which were collected by the Japanese space probe Hayabusa and went back to Earth in 2010.
” Our first-rate atom probe tomography system here at Curtin University enabled us to take an extremely detailed look inside the very first 50 nanometers or two of the surface area of Itokawa dust grains, which we found contained enough water that, if scaled up, would total up to about 20 liters for every cubic meter of rock.”
Curtin graduate Dr. Luke Daly, now of the University of Glasgow, said the research study not only offers researchers an amazing insight into the previous source of Earths water, however could likewise help future area missions.
” How astronauts would get adequate water, without carrying products, is one of the barriers of future space expedition,” Dr. Daly stated.
” Our research reveals that the very same space weathering process which produced water on Itokawa likely took place on other airless planets, meaning astronauts might have the ability to process fresh materials of water directly from the dust on a worlds surface area, such as the Moon.”
Reference: “Solar wind contributions to Earths oceans” by Luke Daly, Martin R. Lee, Lydia J. Hallis, Hope A. Ishii, John P. Bradley, Phillip. A. Bland, David W. Saxey, Denis Fougerouse, William D. A. Rickard, Lucy V. Forman, Nicholas E. Timms, Fred Jourdan, Steven M. Reddy, Tobias Salge, Zakaria Quadir, Evangelos Christou, Morgan A. Cox, Jeffrey A. Aguiar, Khalid Hattar, Anthony Monterrosa, Lindsay P. Keller, Roy Christoffersen, Catherine A. Dukes, Mark J. Loeffler and Michelle S. Thompson, 29 November 2021, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-021-01487-w.
The research study was supported by moneying from the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (part of UKRI), and carried out by scientists from the University of Glasgow, Curtin University, the University of Sydney, the University of Oxford, the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, the Natural History Museum, Idaho National Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Laboratories, NASA Johnson Space Center, the University of Virginia, Northern Arizona University and Purdue University.
Other Curtin authors were Dr. David Saxey, Dr. Denis Fougerouse, Dr. William Rickard, Dr. Lucy Forman, Associate Professor Nick Timms, Professor Fred Jourdan, Professor Steven Reddy, Dr. Zakaria Quadir, and Morgan Cox.