A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a home in Hillsborough, New Jersey, has given scientists a rare look at the chemistry of an ancient asteroid.
The international research team reports in Science Advances that the space rock contains evidence of salty water and complex organic chemistry that had never before been identified in this type of asteroid material.
The event began on July 16, 2024, when a bright meteor streaked across the daytime sky near New York City.
Traveling at about 32,000 miles per hour (14.4 kilometers per second), the rock created a loud sonic boom that was heard and felt across parts of New York and New Jersey.
More than 60 people reported seeing the fireball, while others felt the shock wave. Cameras in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey captured the meteor, allowing researchers to calculate its path and trace it back to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
As the meteor raced through Earth’s atmosphere, it broke apart because it was relatively fragile. It disappeared from view about 22 miles (35 kilometers) above the ground, while weather radar later detected a cloud of falling fragments drifting across New Jersey.
The largest surviving piece crashed through the roof of a house in Hillsborough. The homeowner heard a loud crash, found a hole in the bedroom ceiling, noticed a sulfur-like smell and discovered black fragments and dust scattered across the room.
Fortunately, the homeowner carefully preserved the meteorite pieces using gloves, aluminum foil and glass jars. This quick action prevented contamination and allowed scientists to study one of the cleanest samples of its kind ever recovered.
Researchers identified the meteorite as a rare CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite, one of the oldest and most primitive types of meteorites. It is only the second witnessed fall of this uncommon variety, making it especially valuable for scientific research.
The team discovered that parts of the meteorite had been changed by salty liquid water while still inside its parent asteroid billions of years ago. Tiny salt-rich fragments suggest that concentrated briny water once existed near the asteroid’s surface, revealing a process that scientists had not previously seen in this type of early planetary body.
These ancient salty fluids are particularly interesting because they can help create complex organic molecules. They also keep important ingredients such as phosphate dissolved in water, allowing chemical reactions that may have been important for the early development of life.
The meteorite contains a wide range of organic compounds, including amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Scientists also found evidence that many of these molecules were formed through reactions involving minerals and salty water inside the asteroid itself rather than after the meteorite reached Earth.
Chemical analyses showed that the meteorite contains about 1.8% carbon and 0.07% nitrogen, with isotope patterns matching other primitive carbon-rich meteorites. Previous studies suggest that meteorites like this may have delivered important organic materials to the young Earth billions of years ago, possibly helping create the conditions needed for life to emerge.
Researchers believe the Hillsborough meteorite provides one of the clearest records yet of how water, minerals and organic chemistry interacted inside an ancient asteroid.
Some of the precious fragments will now be preserved at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where they will continue helping scientists uncover the history of our solar system and the chemical ingredients that may have contributed to the origin of life on Earth.
Source: SETI Institute.
