Theoretical origin of life: Where did carbon come from? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, March 07, 2021, 01:33 (1145 days ago) @ David Turell

A rocky planet like Earth should no have had carbon in its beginning. A theory:

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-comet-catalina-comets-carbon-rocky.html

"In early 2016, an icy visitor from the edge of our solar system hurtled past Earth. It briefly became visible to stargazers as Comet Catalina before it slingshotted past the Sun to disappear forevermore out of the solar system.

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"Using one of its unique infrared instruments, SOFIA was able to pick out a familiar fingerprint within the dusty glow of the comet's tail—carbon.

"Now this one-time visitor to our inner solar system is helping explain more about our own origins as it becomes apparent that comets like Catalina could have been an essential source of carbon on planets like Earth and Mars during the early formation of the solar system.

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"'Carbon is key to learning about the origins of life," said the paper's lead author, Charles "Chick" Woodward, an astrophysicist and professor in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minnesota Institute of Astrophysics. "We're still not sure if Earth could have trapped enough carbon on its own during its formation, so carbon-rich comets could have been an important source delivering this essential element that led to life as we know it."

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"SOFIA's infrared observations were able to capture the composition of the dust and gas as it evaporated off the comet, forming its tail. The observations showed that Comet Catalina is carbon-rich, suggesting that it formed in the outer regions of the primordial solar system, which held a reservoir of carbon that could have been important for seeding life.

"While carbon is a key ingredient of life, early Earth and other terrestrial planets of the inner solar system were so hot during their formation that elements like carbon were lost or depleted. While the cooler gas giants like Jupiter and Neptune could support carbon in the outer solar system, Jupiter's jumbo size may have gravitationally blocked carbon from mixing back into the inner solar system.

"So how did the inner rocky planets evolve into the carbon-rich worlds that they are today?

"Researchers think that a slight change in Jupiter's orbit allowed small, early precursors of comets to mix carbon from the outer regions into the inner regions, where it was incorporated into planets like Earth and Mars.

"Comet Catalina's carbon-rich composition helps explain how planets that formed in the hot, carbon-poor regions of the early solar system evolved into planets with the life-supporting element.

"'All terrestrial worlds are subject to impacts by comets and other small bodies, which carry carbon and other elements," Woodward said. "We are getting closer to understanding exactly how these impacts on early planets may have catalyzed life.'"

Comment: Carbon for early life is still a big mystery and a part of the struggle understanding life's origin. Research labs simply assume there was lots if carbon around. But, then again, the origin of life researchers make lots of wild assumptions, and the granting funds swallow it whole hog. I view it as something we will never solve, by describing natural events that we prove.