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Created by clumped dust 4.6b years ago when the solar system was being formed.... but it hasn't been part of a larger body, so it is not that compressed, so it

Created by clumped dust 4.6b years ago when the solar system was being formed.... but it hasn't been part of a larger body, so it is not that compressed, so it is not a chunk of another larger body that split off from collisions. It contains organic material, which means the dust that formed our solar system, contained plenty of it. If it arrived yesterday in earth, it still is 4.6b old. "Identifying organic compounds would support the idea that early meteorites carried amino acids – the building blocks of life – to supply the Earth’s primordial soup where life first began. “Carbonaceous chondrites contain organic compounds including amino acids, which are found in all living things,” said Director of Astrochemistry at EAARO Derek Robson who found the meteorite and who will soon join Loughborough University as an academic visitor for collaborative research. “Being able to identify and confirm the presence of such compounds from a material that existed before the Earth was born would be an important step towards understanding how life began.”"

ars 5y ago
> but it hasn't been part of a larger body, so it is not that compressed, so it is not a chunk of another larger body that split off from collisions. It's way too small to clump from its own gravity, it pretty much has to be a portion of something MUCH larger.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  That assertion gets into questions of asteroid formation, which I find fascinating, though there's very little information I've been able to find. Keep in mind that "gravitational accretion" simply kicks the can a bit further: the chunks that accrete gravitationally must themselves form and congeal somehow. What I understand of solar system formation is that all "metallic" solar systems (though with a substantial portion of elements other than hydrogen) from from the remains of earlier stars. So you have a nova, supernova, stellar collapse, collision (stars, white dwarves, neutron stars, ...). This ejects heavy materials (principally H, He, C, O, N, though others --- water is probably the most common non-elemental molecule in the Universe), and also creates pressure waves and imparts angular momentum. Both factors can draw material together. There's also probably a lot of plasma in the mix, so that different portions of the cloud carry different charges. These may be attracted, repelled, and spark discharges (which might themselves melt and fuse material). There may also be surface-tension effects and other factors at play. Somehow, clumps form. Gravity is a force at work, but not the only force. Disclaimer: not an astronomer, just interested in far too many divers subjects. If anyone has anything authoritative to say on this I'm all ears. Most references I can find are either extremely basic, or address the formation of asteroid belts but not the objects within them. There's some hypothesis on formation (condensation, shock waves, jet flows) here: http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Sept02/isotopicAges.html http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Sept02/isotopicAges.html

ars 5y ago

> but it hasn't been part of a larger body, so it is not that compressed, so it is not a chunk of another larger body that split off from collisions. It's way too small to clump from its own gravity, it pretty much has to be a portion of something MUCH larger.

dredmorbius 5y ago
That assertion gets into questions of asteroid formation, which I find fascinating, though there's very little information I've been able to find. Keep in mind that "gravitational accretion" simply kicks the can a bit further: the chunks that accrete gravitationally must themselves form and congeal somehow. What I understand of solar system formation is that all "metallic" solar systems (though with a substantial portion of elements other than hydrogen) from from the remains of earlier stars. So you have a nova, supernova, stellar collapse, collision (stars, white dwarves, neutron stars, ...). This ejects heavy materials (principally H, He, C, O, N, though others --- water is probably the most common non-elemental molecule in the Universe), and also creates pressure waves and imparts angular momentum. Both factors can draw material together. There's also probably a lot of plasma in the mix, so that different portions of the cloud carry different charges. These may be attracted, repelled, and spark discharges (which might themselves melt and fuse material). There may also be surface-tension effects and other factors at play. Somehow, clumps form. Gravity is a force at work, but not the only force. Disclaimer: not an astronomer, just interested in far too many divers subjects. If anyone has anything authoritative to say on this I'm all ears. Most references I can find are either extremely basic, or address the formation of asteroid belts but not the objects within them. There's some hypothesis on formation (condensation, shock waves, jet flows) here: http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Sept02/isotopicAges.html http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Sept02/isotopicAges.html