Meet Kenneth and Juliette. They are two complex organic molecules that were retrieved from the Comet 67P. I'm getting ahead of myself...let me start over.
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Rosetta spacecraft 12 years ago to study the comet 67P. The comet is a Jupiter-family body that makes it's way around the solar system around every six and a half years. While analyzing dust that surrounded the comet, they discovered the complex organic molecules that I mentioned earlier. While it has been speculated that these types of molecules exist on or around comets, this was the first time that scientists have been able to capture dust from one of these celestial bodies to study. Last week, their study was reported on in Nature, and it focused on two of these samples which they nicknamed Kenneth and Juliette. The two molecules turned out to be carbon-based molecules "bound together in very structures, similar to the organic matter found in certain meteorites here on Earth." Herve Cottin, one of the authors of the paper, said the carbon was "in a far more complex form than expected,” adding, “It is so complex, we can’t give it a proper formula or a name!” This is pretty big, because up until now, scientists weren't sure whether the organic matter that had been found in meteorites recovered here on Earth had originated off planet, or if they picked them up after landing here. That opens up the possibility that the organic matter which helped created life on Earth could've come from someplace else in the universe. If that's truly the case, then it also opens up the possibility that there is life on other planets.
So what do you think? It's kind of crazy, I know, but pretty cool at the same time. Let me know your thoughts on this whole thing in the comments section down below.
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