© Fabrice Noel, France Picture of the comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) on 12 February 2015. Image taken by French amateur astronomer Fabrice Noel, 50 kilometers south of Paris. (4 minute exposure, 6400 ISO, Sony A7s DSLR).
Scientists on Friday
identified two complex organic molecules, or building blocks of life, on a comet for the first time, shedding new light on the cosmic origins of planets like Earth.
Ethyl alcohol and a simple sugar known as glycolaldehyde were detected in Comet Lovejoy, said the study in the journal
Science Advances.
"These complex
organic molecules may be part of the rocky material from which planets are formed," said the study.
Other organic molecules have previously been discovered in comets, most recently in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, on which the European space agency's Philae found several organic molecules—including four never detected before on a comet.Since comets contain some of the oldest and most primitive material in the solar system, scientists regard them as time capsules, offering a peek and how it all started 4.6 billion years ago.
But while the latest study does not end the debate over whether falling comets indeed seeded Earth with the components necessary for life, it does add something to our knowledge, said study co-author Dominique Bockelée-Morvan, an astrophysicist at the French National Center for Scientific Research.
© IRAM-30m radiotelescope by Nicolas BiverThe IRAM 30m radiotelescope in the Sierra Nevada, Spain.
"The presence of a major
complex organic molecule in comet material is an essential step toward better understanding the conditions that prevailed at the moment when life emerged on our planet," she told AFP.
"These observations show a possible explanation for its (life's) origin on our planet," she added
Other hypotheses exist too, including the gas from volcanic eruptions.
Comet Lovejoy is of particular interest to scientists because "it is one of the most active comets in Earth's orbital neighborhood," said the study.
The research was done using a 30-meter (yard) long telescope at the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique in Sierra Nevada, Spain in January of 2015, when the comet was brightest and most productive.
Comment: Whether or not comets were responsible for seeding life on our planet, NASA has verified that comets and asteroids are bringing extraterrestrial life forms to earth. Considering the increasing frequency of meteorites being reported, this may have profound implications for life on earth.