The origin of life on Earth was finally explained by models taken from an asteroid?

How life grew Earth ? Samples Produced in 2019 by Japanese space explorationTo help us learn more about the origin of our planet. They have actually made it possible to detect amino acids An asteroidAccording to a Japanese scientific study released on Friday.

Researchers at the University of Ohio (western Japan) claim that these amino acids and other organic substances are derived from the asteroid Ryugu. “The discovery of amino acids capable of forming proteins is significant because, unlike meteorites, Ryuku was not exposed to the Earth’s biosphere,” we read in this study. Therefore, scientists say, “their discovery proves that at least some of these basic bricks on Earth may have formed in the space environment.”

An asteroid is located 300 million kilometers from Earth

The researchers said that Japan’s Hayabusa-2 study found 23 types of amino acids in 5.4 grams of black dot and dust samples collected in Ryukyu. The capsule returned to Earth at the end of 2020 with its precious cargo after a six-year voyage.

Discovered in 1999, the asteroid Ryugu (Japanese: “Dragon Palace”) is located 300 million kilometers from our planet and is less than 900 meters in diameter. Scientists believe that some objects on the asteroid did not heat up above 100 degrees Celsius about five million years after the birth of our solar system.

Amino acids brought to Earth from space?

According to another study published Thursday in the American Journal ScienceMaterial taken from Ryugu containing “a chemical compound very closely related to the Sun’s halo” Meteors.

Ryugu models “give reason to believe that amino acids were brought to Earth from space”, confirms Kenzi Kobayashi, an astronomer and professor at Yokohama National University interviewed by AFP. Another theory is that amino acids were formed by lightning in the Earth’s early atmosphere.