Meteorites & Asteroids Archives

2.5 billion year old microbial structures -- The black features within this thin slice of rock are 2.5-billion-year-old microbial structures. This study suggests that the organic matter preserved within this complex microbial community may have been produced by photosynthetic microorganisms. Image credit: Andrea Corpolongo

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Chemical Evidence Of Ancient Life Detected In 3.3 billion-year-old Rocks

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2025November 18, 2025

Pairing cutting-edge chemistry with artificial intelligence, a multidisciplinary team of scientists today published fresh chemical evidence of Earth’s earliest life – concealed in 3.3-billion-year-old rocks – and molecular evidence that […]

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this close-up view showing the cavernous weathering texture of an unusually shaped rock, “Phippsaksla,

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

Perseverance Encounters A Possible Meteorite On Mars

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2025November 18, 2025

During the rover’s recent investigation of the bedrock at “Vernodden,” Perseverance encountered an unusually shaped rock about 80 centimeters across (about 31 inches) called “Phippsaksla.”

The locations of oxychlorine detections on the surface of Mars. Details of the locations, specific species, and detection methodology in Table 1.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Meteorites & Asteroids, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving

Oxychlorine Species On Mars: A Review

by Keith CowingNovember 17, 2025November 17, 2025

Oxychlorine species (mainly perchlorate and chlorate) have been identified at multiple locations on the surface of Mars by both orbiter and in situ rovers. They have also been found in […]

A panoramic aerial drone image of the Jinlin crater with the approximate location of the crater rim labeled, with an insert of the crater floor, which shows a mix of granite weathered soil and granite fragments. The yellow ruler is 20 centimeters long. Credit Ming Chen

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Earth’s Largest Modern Crater Discovered In Southern China

by Keith CowingNovember 13, 2025November 13, 2025

A newly discovered, remarkably well-preserved impact crater is shedding fresh light on how extraterrestrial bodies collide with Earth.

Ice coverage in the Arctic sea is rapidly declining, which causes the remaining ice to melt faster and alters nutrient availability. In a University of Washington-led study, researchers show how particles from space can help recreate ice conditions over the past 30,000 years. Credit Bonnie Light/University of Washington

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Space Dust Reveals Arctic Ice Conditions Before Satellite Imaging

by Keith CowingNovember 12, 2025November 12, 2025

Arctic sea ice has declined by more than 42% since 1979, when regular satellite monitoring began. As the ice grows thinner and recedes, more water is exposed to sunlight.

Equisetum laevigatum (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) Source: iNatualist.org

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Using An Ancient Plant To Decode Earth’s Climate History

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2025October 30, 2025

A team of researchers at The University of New Mexico has uncovered how a peculiar, prehistoric plant might unlock new ways to reconstruct Earth’s ancient climate.

Lava-covered proto-Earth - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Geologists Discover The First Evidence of 4.5-billion-year-old “proto-Earth”

by Keith CowingOctober 15, 2025October 15, 2025

Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have discovered extremely rare remnants of “proto Earth,” which formed about 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly altered the primitive planet’s composition […]

Carbonaceous chondrite - large individual of the Murchison Meteorite with fusion crust. FMNH Me 2640 (Field Museum of Natural History meteorite collection, Chicago, Illinois, USA). -- Wikiedia Source

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Status Report

Pseudo-panspermia of Phosphorus Species on the Early Earth

by Keith CowingOctober 13, 2025October 13, 2025

In the Earth system, Phosphorus (P) does not form a single phase, but mostly combines into compounds forming multiple minerals. Phosphate (P+5) is the majority P species in the Earth’s […]

Impact event that killed the dinosaurs -- NSF

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

The Depletion Of The Asteroid Belt And The Impact History Of The Earth

by Keith CowingSeptember 29, 2025September 28, 2025

We have evaluated the rate at which the asteroid belt is losing material, and how it splits between macroscopic bodies and meteoritic dust.

Filamentary structures and anisotropy are observed across the dynamic range of star formation. Starting at the star-forming scale, (1) shows the OMC-1 star-forming filament observed by ALMA+IRAM 30 m in the form of ‘fibers’ identified as velocity coherent on 30,000 au scales (Hacar et al., 2018). Such filamentary behavior and anisotropy is associated with the presence of (2) dense protostellar cores, as in the heterogeneous column density of L1709, inferred from Herschel observations (Arzoumanian et al., 2019) and fit with ballistic free-fall trajectories as in the case of (3) the 10,500 au ‘streamer’ structure around the protostar Per-Emb 2 seen in HC3N by ALMA (Pineda et al., 2020). The structured infalling envelopes of cores like L1709 can be associated with the presence of substructure in the (4) thermal dust continuum (1.3mm) emission from ALMA of its young planet-forming disk (< 500 kyr old) IRS-63 (Segura-Cox et al., 2020) -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Meteorites & Asteroids, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Status Report

Infall And Disk Processes – The Message From Meteorites

by Keith CowingSeptember 21, 2025September 21, 2025

How do planetary systems, in general, and our own Solar System (SS), in particular, form? In conjunction, Astronomy and Isotope Cosmochemistry provide us with powerful tools to answer this age-old […]