Impact events Archives

Visualization and quantification of S. desiccabilis biofilm formation on the rock substrates. (A–G) Images obtained with scanning electron microscopy (SEM; left panels) and fluorescence microscopy (right panels) are shown for each rock. For fluorescence microscopy images, biofilms were stained with Sybr-gold and are visible as green pixels. -- Frontiers

Bioleaching Of Critical Trace Metals By Sphingomonas Desiccabilis: Substrate-driven Selectivity In Earth And Space Analogues

by Keith CowingJune 26, 2026June 26, 2026

Background – Biotechnological advances are transforming the potential for sustainable resource utilization in space exploration. Biomining, using microorganisms to extract valuable metals, has emerged as a viable strategy for in […]

Dark colored bars indicate time periods when all three clock models agree that the metabolism existed, light colored bars represent the oldest age predicted by any of the three clock models, and dashed lines represent the oldest confidence intervals. Isotopic evidence of biological N2 fixation (BNF) is presented in black (see main text for references), with the gray area representing more putative isotopic evidence of biological N2 fixation. Paleoarc. represents the Paleoarchean, Mesoarc. represents the Mesoarchean, Neoarc. represents the Neoarchean, Neoptz. represents the Neoproterozoic. -- Science Advances via PubMed

Origin & Evolution of Life

Abiotic Sources Of Fixed Nitrogen Sustained Early Ecosystems For Several Hundred Million Years After The Origin Of Life

by Keith CowingJune 23, 2026June 23, 2026

Nitrogen (N) plays a crucial role in controlling biological productivity. However, it remains unknown how Earth’s earliest ecosystems accessed bioavailable forms of nitrogen.

An X-ray image of NWA 12774. (Credit: Aaron Bell/CU Boulder)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Sample Return

Rare Meteorite Provides Evidence Of A Giant Early Planet

by Keith CowingJune 17, 2026June 17, 2026

Four-and-a-half billion years ago, a massive world, possibly as big as the moon or even Mars, orbited our sun before crashing into another celestial body and shattering into rubble.

The image on the left shows the difference between shocked basalt with red specs of iron alteration, in which bedrock basalt is the precursor, and lighter grey shocked soil on the bottom right of the large sample. On the right, individual samples of shocked soil can be seen. They are light grey with white caliche – a cemented sedimentary deposit – soil horizons within them just like the shocked soil stuck to the rock on the left. Credit: Shawn Wright/Mikayla Kelley

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Impact events, Mars, Press Release

Shocked Soil Discovered: Rare On Earth, But Abundant On Mars?

by Keith CowingJune 17, 2026June 17, 2026

When a meteoroid strikes, it generates a wave of energy that moves faster than the speed of sound. When all that energy propagates through material in seconds or less before […]

Chicxulub Impact - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

Meteorite Which Wiped Out The Dinosaurs Also Created A Record-breaking Hydrothermal System

by Keith CowingJune 10, 2026June 26, 2026

The meteorite which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs also created an underground environment suited to supporting new life, and new research suggests it lasted for millions of years longer […]

Southwest Research Institute scientists modeled the early impact history of Earth, seeking insight into potential origins of life. Based on the models, a 6-mile (10-kilometer) asteroid striking the early Earth at 9 miles per second (15 km/second) creates a crater with impact-generated permeability (left) and heat profiles (right) that could create hydrothermal conditions capable of supporting the evolution of life. -- SWRI

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Impact events, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Press Release

Impact History Of Early Earth Created Conditions Conducive To Life

by Keith CowingJune 8, 2026June 8, 2026

Southwest Research Institute scientists modeled the early impact history of Earth, seeking insight into potential origins of life. These models show that asteroid impacts on the early Earth plowed up […]

Schematic illustrating the evolutionary stages of the Eulalia asteroid family. (a) The Eulalia parent body resides near the Jupiter 3:1 mean-motion resonance (J3:1). (b) Catastrophic disruption of the parent body occurs, with approximately 50% of the fragments being directly injected into the J3:1, where they can be driven into the planet-crossing region. (c) Post-disruption dynamical evolution, during which an estimated 50% of the surviving fragments are expected to eventually migrate toward the J3:1 resonance via Yarkovsky thermal forces. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Extinction events, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

An 800-Million-Year-Old Impact Shower on the Terrestrial Planets from the Breakup of the Eulalia Parent Body

by Keith CowingJune 7, 2026June 7, 2026

Multiple studies have proposed a substantial surge in large lunar impacts approximately 800 million years ago (Ma).

Initial structure of the Impact Plume 60 s post impact. The impactor strikes from the left, at a 60° angle from horizontal, with the sun located to the right.There is a visible asymmetry in the plume due to the direction of impact; the “hole” on the right side of the plume is a bubble in this 2D slice of a fully 3D plume due to the removal of water vapor-rock mixtures from the simulation during the sampling from SOVA into DSMC codes (Prem et al. 2015). (Top) the plume contains a region of high density (~1022 molecules/m3 ) just above the point of impact, which rapidly drops toward the edges of the plume. (Bottom, left) The high plume densities correspond to short mean free paths for the vapor molecules. (Bottom, right) Comparing this mean free path with the length scale of the density gradient reveals very small Knudsen numbers throughout; the entire plume (except for the very outermost edges) is clearly within the continuum flow regime at this time, rather than the slip-flow, Knudsen, or Free Molecular regimes. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Comets and Asteroids, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mercury, Status Report

Transport of Water In A Transient, Impact-Generated Atmosphere On Mercury

by Keith CowingJune 5, 2026June 26, 2026

Mercury’s polar cold traps host water ice deposits that are likely populated with impact-delivered water via Mercury’s exosphere.

Image shows microscopic marine plankton, which are larger in size and went extinct. Credit Brian Huber Smithsonian

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Impact events, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Pioneering Research Sheds New Light On What Shaped Extinction Pattern Of Prehistoric Marine Life – And Size Clearly Mattered

by Keith CowingJune 2, 2026June 2, 2026

Scientists have shown conclusively for the first time that tiny marine organisms in polar oceans survived the mass extinction event that wiped out prehistoric dinosaurs because they needed less energy […]

For 14C dating, subsamples of stromatolites were obtained by crushing-grinding (A–C) and drilling processes (E–H). D Example for digitate stromatolite. E Yellow circles (n = 4) in the thin sections indicate subsampling points for osmium isotope analysis (187Os/188Os). -- Nature Communications & Environment

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Sample Return

Asteroid Impact Site Reveals Possible Traces Of Early Life

by Keith CowingMay 21, 2026May 21, 2026

A discovery by a South Korean research team suggests that impact-generated lakes may have fostered early oxygen-producing life.

Impact events

Bioleaching Of Critical Trace Metals By Sphingomonas Desiccabilis: Substrate-driven Selectivity In Earth And Space Analogues

Abiotic Sources Of Fixed Nitrogen Sustained Early Ecosystems For Several Hundred Million Years After The Origin Of Life

Rare Meteorite Provides Evidence Of A Giant Early Planet

Shocked Soil Discovered: Rare On Earth, But Abundant On Mars?

Meteorite Which Wiped Out The Dinosaurs Also Created A Record-breaking Hydrothermal System

Impact History Of Early Earth Created Conditions Conducive To Life

An 800-Million-Year-Old Impact Shower on the Terrestrial Planets from the Breakup of the Eulalia Parent Body

Transport of Water In A Transient, Impact-Generated Atmosphere On Mercury

Pioneering Research Sheds New Light On What Shaped Extinction Pattern Of Prehistoric Marine Life – And Size Clearly Mattered

Asteroid Impact Site Reveals Possible Traces Of Early Life

Perseverance Astrobiology Droid Has Completed A Martian Marathon

Machine Learning And Deep Learning For Exoplanet Detection And Atmospheric Characterization With JWST And The Upcoming Ariel Mission

Bioleaching Of Critical Trace Metals By Sphingomonas Desiccabilis: Substrate-driven Selectivity In Earth And Space Analogues

TESS Reveals The Puffiest Exoplanets Ever Found

An Agnostic Machine Learning Model of Photosynthetic Habitability