Oxygen in Celestial Body Questions Universal Origin

Everything you know about the birth and evolution of the solar system may be wrong. Scientists have achieved a scientific breakthrough. The discovery of oxygen in Comet 67P may help us understand how the solar system, the world, and life came to be. The Rosetta mission was designed to study comets, the oldest remnants of the solar system. According to NASA’s article, “Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae Probe Lands on Comet,” the Philae space probe reached the comet’s surface on August 6, 2014. Recently, this probe detected high levels of molecular oxygen (O2) throughout the comet. So what is all the fuss about finding oxygen in a comet in space? Oxygen is one of the building blocks of life. Discovering breathable oxygen in space implies that life may exist elsewhere besides Earth. Comets contain ice, gases such as helium and hydrogen and, in some cases, liquid water. Discovering oxygen in space is rare due to its reactive nature. The oxygen did not combine with other elements as the oxygen molecules were trapped inside the nucleus of the comet. The abundance of oxygen in Comet 67P left scientists questioning how this was possible. According to an article titled, “Oxygen found on comet in Rosetta mission: Most surprising discovery… so far” by the Los Angeles Times, scientists justify the high levels of oxygen through a process called radiolysis. During this process water ice bonds are broken, releasing hydrogen molecules into space. The remaining oxygen molecules attach to the nucleus of the comet, resulting in the high readings of oxygen by the Philae space probe. It is also identified that “The ratio of water to oxygen remained the same over a study period of seven months.” If oxygen levels in the comet decreased significantly during this period, it would mean that the oxygen was found only on the surface of the comet. Because oxygen levels remained fairly unchanged, scientists concluded that oxygen is found throughout the nucleus of the comet. Since comets were formed during the early days of the solar system, scientists have concluded that oxygen was present at the time of the solar system’s formation. If oxygen was indeed present during the early days, the solar system’s evolution must have been calm in order to keep the oxygen molecules untouched. This challenges the theory that the early days of the solar system were violent due to the compression of dust, particles, and cosmic energy to form large masses of land, which we now know as planets. According to the National Geographic article titled, “Mystery of Earth’s Water Origin Solved” water was introduced to our developing planet by carbonaceous chondrites, the oldest space rocks known by scientists. Life progressively evolved to where we are now. But what if a comet similar to Comet 67P actually collided with our planet causing oxygen and hydrogen to react to form liquid water? Although life may have evolved the same way its beginning would be different. If a comet with similar properties as Comet 67P brought oxygen into the early days of planet Earth, could the circumstance have been the same with another planet? Is life on another planet closer than we think? It is up to scientists to unravel these mysteries and many more with the studying of celestial bodies like Comet 67P.

#home #features