New research shows dust from comets, asteroids and other spatial beings can transport water and other organic materials to planets like Earth.
According to a press release, the multi-institutional study found such debris is constantly raining down on Earth and other solar system bodies. The new discovery does not only apply to our solar system and can also work on exoplanets in other solar systems.
"It is a thrilling possibility that this influx of dust has acted as a continuous rainfall of little reaction vessels containing both the water and organics needed for the eventual origin of life on Earth and possibly Mars," study co-author Hope Ishii, associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, said in the release.
The space dust is swept away by solar winds made up mostly of hydrogen ions. The solar winds then leave the ion atoms in a scrambled state, allowing for oxygen to react with hydrogen and create water molecules.
If their research is correct, then airless spatial bodies are constantly being exposed to particles containing water molecules brought on by solar winds. It would also explain the presence of water ice in part of the moon permanently covered in shadow.
"Perhaps more exciting," said Ishii, "interplanetary dust, especially dust from primitive asteroids and comets, has long been known to carry organic carbon species that survive entering the Earth's atmosphere, and we have now demonstrated that it also carries solar-wind-generated water. So we have shown for the first time that water and organics can be delivered together."
The study did not quantify how much water molecules have been transported to Earth due to space dust, but Ishii said it would not be a significantly great amount. Future research on the subject will be needed to more accurately quantify this kind of transfer.
"In no way do we suggest that it was sufficient to form oceans, for example," said Ishii. "However, the relevance of our work is not the origin of the Earth's oceans but that we have shown continuous, co-delivery of water and organics intimately intermixed."
