Scientists from the Birkbeck Institute of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of London have probably solved that mystery.
- The team of scientists, led by Professor Hilary Downes, believes that meteorites and asteroids brought water to Earth around a billion year ago and made our planet habitable.
- The team of researchers have found Opal, the hydrated form of Silica that is not found on Earth
- Opal is a strange substance that is extra-terrestrial and is highly associated with water as it consists of 30 per cent water
- The researchers found the Opal inside a brecciated ureilite meteorite that had crashed in Antarctica
- Scientists have named the meteorite as EET 83309. The meteorite was part of an asteroid and that is what is fascinating the scientists
- Presence of Opal crystals in the meteorite confirms the presence of ice water in asteroids
- The scientists confirmed the presence of ice water on the asteroid when they found out that the Opal crystal was formed before the meteorite had detached itself from its host asteroid and hit Earth
- This discovery further strengthens the theory that asteroids had brought water to the Earth.
(Source-indiatoday.intoday.in)
