{"id":36260,"date":"2023-11-15T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9a322954-ec4e-46eb-b4ea-c00689ce115e"},"modified":"2023-11-15T02:46:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T01:46:13","slug":"comets-may-reveal-the-secrets-to-finding-alien-life-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/comets-may-reveal-the-secrets-to-finding-alien-life-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Comets may reveal the secrets to finding alien life, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Out for delivery: Your package Building blocks of life \u2013 Prebiotics including vitamin B3, large amounts of hydrogen cyanide (HCN)<\/em> is three planets away right now. <\/p>

By Noa Leach\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 00:01 AM<\/p>

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Getting all the materials to create alien life may sound difficult, but it may be down to something as simple as the right delivery method. In fact, new research suggests that comets might be the \u2018delivery drivers\u2019 of space<\/a> \u2013 ferrying around essential molecules that make life possible.<\/p>

Scientists have a long-held theory that comets deposited building blocks for life on Earth<\/a>. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge\u2019s Institute of Astronomy think this theory could help us find evidence for origins of life on alien planets.<\/p>

\u201cWe can start identifying the type of systems we can use to test different origin scenarios,\u201d said the paper\u2019s first author, Richard Anslow<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time, being able to combine advances in astronomy and chemistry to study some of the most fundamental questions of all.\u201d<\/p>

Comets<\/a> contain prebiotic molecules like amino acids and vitamin B3, as well as large amounts of hydrogen cyanide (HCN). These molecules are important in the synthesis of organic molecules \u2013 combining to form proteins and other complex structures that precede the evolution<\/a> of more complex life.<\/p>

Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A<\/em>, the study describes how the researchers used modelling techniques to calculate the conditions needed for comets to safely deliver their cargo. They found that planets need to have a low mass if they are orbiting stars similar to our Sun<\/a>, as this makes the planetary atmospheres easier to enter without breaking.<\/p>

Much like a good courier, comets can\u2019t be travelling too quickly if they want to deliver their packages safely. The study found that comets need to be travelling under 15km (9 miles) per second when they get to their planetary destination \u2013 otherwise the speed and temperature of the impact would cause the essential molecules to break up.<\/p>

But when planets are orbiting lower-mass stars than our Sun \u2013 around which speeds are much higher \u2013 the comets need a bit of help.<\/p>

These deliveries are much easier in systems where planets orbit closely together \u2013 in the same neighbourhood, if you will. Here, the comets can slow down their speed by \u2018bouncing\u2019 between the orbits of the different planets.<\/p>

How? The comet is pulled in by the gravitational<\/a> forces of one planet, and then passed to another before making impact with one of them.<\/p>

If this happens enough times for the comet to approach slowly, it can then crash into the planet\u2019s surface and deliver the essential prebiotic molecules \u2013 rather than breaking up in the atmosphere before it gets there.<\/p>

The researchers now think scientists should be looking for signs of the origins of life in systems like these.<\/p>

\u201cIn these tightly-packed systems, each planet has a chance to interact with and trap a comet,\u201d said Anslow. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that this mechanism could be how prebiotic molecules end up on planets.\u201d<\/p>

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