Researchers at IBM Research published a study, in Meteoritics and Planetary Science, on the organic matter in meteorites using, for the first time, ultra-high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM). The team examined samples from the famous Murchison meteorite, which fell on the small Australian town of the same name in September 1969.and took advantage of the unique strength of AFM to visualize and identify single molecules.
Their findings, obtained by a multinational group of researchers including the IBM Research team in Zurich, Switzerland, provide a proof of concept showing that AFM can resolve and identify single molecules of meteoritic origin.
Meteorites are fragments of asteroids (and potentially comets) that reach the Earth’s surface intact. They are leftovers from the formation of the solar system and provide clues to its history in the molecules they contain.
AFM’s ability to identify a single molecule means that can detect traces of substances that would go unnoticed by other techniques. This strength becomes more important when the sample is scarce, as in the case of meteorites, and even more so for materials that return with space missions.
About 12 years ago, the IBM team advanced the use of AFM to resolve single molecules with atomic resolution 2 . By studying samples related to crude oil and soot, which contain a wide diversity of molecules, they began to take advantage of AFM’s single-molecule sensitivity.
One of their hopes was to resolve single molecules of extraterrestrial origin, so they began looking for potential samples they could investigate, as well as collaborators with meteorite experience to help them get the samples right, interpret their results, and compare them to what is known. on molecules in meteorites from other techniques.
The study of organic molecules in the Murchison meteorite demonstrates the high-resolution capabilities of AFM. Until now, they have not resolved new molecules in meteorites using AFM. However, due to its sensitivity at the single molecule level, AFM could be used in the near future to reveal very rare molecules that have not yet been found in meteorite samples.. There are also molecules that can only be resolved with the help of AFM when conventional techniques alone are insufficient 3 .
After this proof of concept, the team hopes to obtain larger samples from different meteorites to understand the effects of rising water and heating on the asteroids they came from, and potentially samples returning from missions to other objects in our solar system. – including asteroids and other planetary surfaces – to resolve individual molecules and advance our understanding of the molecules they carry. This could help paint a clearer picture of the origin of our solar system and life on Earth.. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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