{"id":478969,"date":"2026-07-16T05:28:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-research\/astromaterials\/nasa-study-of-pristine-meteorite-adds-to-story-of-ancient-asteroids\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T05:28:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:28:53","slug":"nasa-study-of-pristine-meteorite-adds-to-story-of-ancient-asteroids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=478969","title":{"rendered":"NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids"},"content":{"rendered":"
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6 min read<\/p>\n

NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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C1 clasts in Hillsborough: On the left is a back-scattered electron image with two C1 748 clasts circled. On the right, an X-ray map of the same area as (A), indicating Na enrichment in 749 of the C1 clasts relative to the bulk of Hillsborough. Credit: NASA\/SETI<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A meteorite recovered immediately upon its fall to Earth on July 16, 2024, is helping NASA scientists uncover new clues about ancient water, the chemical evolution of primitive asteroids, and the ingredients that may have helped make life possible throughout the early solar system.<\/p>\n

This rapid recovery began when an amateur astronomer in New Jersey quickly recognized that a newly fallen meteorite had landed on his property. Recognizing its scientific value and wearing protective gloves, he collected the fragments and stored them in aluminum foil and glass containers, which preserved delicate minerals and organic compounds that are often altered by moisture, weather, and contamination.<\/p>\n

As the meteorite fell to Earth, cameras across New Jersey captured its fiery passage through the atmosphere. Scientists used these observations to reconstruct the fireball\u2019s trajectory and, after recovering the meteorite, combined this data with laboratory analyses to determine where in the solar system the rock most likely originated. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances<\/em><\/a>, researchers found evidence that ancient salty water altered minerals within the meteorite\u2019s parent asteroid, preserving unique minerals and a rich inventory of organic compounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we have both a documented fireball and a quick recovery of its meteorite, we can learn not only what the rock is made of, but where it came from in the asteroid belt,\u201d said Peter Jenniskens, meteor astronomer at both NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley and the SETI Institute, and lead author of the study.<\/p>\n

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\"Satellite<\/a><\/figure>
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Combined radar detections from the Hillsborough meteorite fall. The green line shows the fireball\u2019s projected path, while colored radar signatures show falling meteorite fragments drifting east-northeast with prevailing winds. Credit: NASA\/Marc Fries<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Named for the township where it was recovered, the Hillsborough meteorite belongs to a class of carbon-rich meteorites known as CM carbonaceous chondrites. These primitive rocks preserve some of the oldest materials in the solar system, recording the chemical processes that shaped asteroids more than 4.5 billion years ago.<\/p>\n

While examining the unusually pristine meteorite, researchers found a mosaic of tiny broken-up rocks and noticed that some contained unusually high concentrations of sodium \u2014 an unexpected finding for this type of meteorite. The surprising signal prompted a closer investigation using powerful electron microscopes that allowed scientists to examine the meteorite from the millimeter scale down to individual atoms. By combining observations across multiple scales, researchers reconstructed the history of the minerals and the fluids that once flowed through them.<\/p>\n

These analyses revealed microscopic fractures filled with sodium-rich material left behind by ancient brines. Unlike pure water, brines contain dissolved salts that allow them to transport elements and chemically alter the rocks they move through. In the case of the Hillsborough sample, those ancient fluids altered the asteroid\u2019s minerals and left behind chemical evidence that remained preserved for billions of years.<\/p>\n

Scientists were also able to detect fragile sodium-carbonate salts that normally react with moisture in Earth\u2019s atmosphere before they can be studied. Jangmi Han, a paper co-author and mineralogist at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, identified evidence of ancient brines preserved within microscopic fractures. Similar salts were identified in samples returned from the asteroids Bennu and Ryugu by NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx<\/a> mission and JAXA\u2019s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2<\/a> mission. However,Hillsborough marks the first time the salts have been identified in a CM carbonaceous chondrite meteorite, offering a new glimpse into the surfaces of the primitive asteroids that produced these meteorites.<\/p>\n

Together, these findings suggest that ancient, salt-rich brines were more widespread among primitive asteroids<\/a> than previously recognized, and provide scientists with new opportunities to compare how water altered different asteroid bodies across the early solar system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chips of the most salt-rich bits of this meteorite are quite comparable to the samples returned by the Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx missions,\u201d said Mike Zolensky, a meteorite researcher at NASA Johnson and co-author of the study. \u201cThey\u2019re not identical. They\u2019re different in some very interesting ways, but they\u2019ve seen very similar processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Following the history of water through the solar system is an essential part of understanding the origin of life.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Mike Zolensky<\/p>\n

Meteorite Researcher<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Scientists expected Hillsborough to contain a rich suite of organic compounds because it is a CM carbonaceous chondrite. What made the meteorite exceptional was how quickly it was recovered, allowing researchers to study those compounds before prolonged exposure to Earth\u2019s environment could contaminate the sample.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the big surprises for me when we analyzed a small chip of the Hillsborough meteorite was the complexity of amino acids and other organic compounds,\u201d said Danny Glavin, senior scientist in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-author of the study.<\/p>\n

Its diversity of amino acids and other organic compounds is, comparable to the Murchison meteorite, a nearly 100-kilogram carbonaceous chondrite that fell in Australia in 1969 and became the benchmark for extraterrestrial organic chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just more proof that the chemical building blocks of life could have been delivered \u2014 and are still being delivered \u2014 to Earth today by these carbonaceous asteroid fragments,\u201d said Glavin, who was a co-investigator on OSIRIS-REx, leading an international team that studied the organic composition of the samples delivered to Earth from asteroid Bennu in 2023.<\/p>\n

Understanding the Hillsborough meteorite required expertise from multiple scientific disciplines.<\/p>\n

Astronomers reconstructed the meteorite\u2019s journey through space, finding evidence that it may have originated from the Erigone asteroid family in the inner asteroid belt, home to the asteroid Donaldjohanson<\/a>, which was visited in 2025 by NASA\u2019s Lucy<\/a> spacecraft. Mineralogists identified evidence of ancient brines preserved within microscopic fractures, while organic chemists analyzed the meteorite\u2019s inventory of amino acids and other organic compounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, those complementary studies are helping scientists build one of the clearest pictures yet of how primitive asteroids such as the asteroid Erigone evolved chemically over billions of years,\u201d said Jenniskens.<\/p>\n

Researchers continue to study the Hillsborough meteorite, revealing new details about how water transformed primitive asteroids and shaped the early solar system.<\/p>\n

By tracing the history of water on primitive asteroids, scientists are learning how water and the chemical ingredients for life were distributed throughout the early solar system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you follow the water through the solar system, you\u2019re actually following life,\u201d Zolensky said. \u201cFollowing the history of water through the solar system is an essential part of understanding the origin of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on NASA\u2019s astromaterials research and exploration, visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/astromaterials<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser<\/strong>
Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 \/ 240-419-1732
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

Victoria Segovia<\/strong>
NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111
victoria.segovia@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Victoria Segovia<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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