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Home/News/Stony meteorites reveal the timing of Jupiter’s migration 941 Stony meteorites reveal the timing of Jupiter’s migration The gas giant caused iron-vaporizing collisions in the asteroid belt 5 million years ago. By K.N. Smith | Published: Tuesday, December 13, 2016 JUPITER_proccessed_image An artist's rendering of Jupiter WikiMedia Commons/ Ukstillalive The youngest stony meteorites in the solar system may reveal when Jupiter migrated through the asteroid belt. These meteors contain grains of metal that can only be the remnant of high-velocity collisions driven by Jupiter’s gravitational influence. New evidence comes from a rare group of meteorites called CB chondrites. Formed around...

Ground-based observatories and proposed-but-cancelled spacecraft such as the European Space Agency's Darwin project or NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder could scan the atmospheres of exoplanets for signs of extraterrestrial life. Molecules each absorb specific types of light, resulting in patterns known as spectra that allow scientists to identify what the molecules are. Some chemicals or combinations of chemicals might be unique to life as we know it, and could thus serve as strong evidence of aliens. One key gas astrobiologists looking for extraterrestrial life would concentrate on would be oxygen, since researchers often think this molecule is too chemically reactive to...

Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust and is used to make bikes, cars and food cans. Now, thanks to research conducted at the University of Nancy, France, the metal may also be able to shed light on the processes that occurred during the formation of the solar system.Models of the evolution of the early solar system rely on knowing the precise times at which the oldest particles in the solar system formed. Some of the oldest particles clumped together to form chondrites - primitive meteorites - and these grain-like building blocks are known as calcium-aluminium rich...

Probe to 'look inside' asteroids By Paul Rincon BBC News Online science staff in Paris, France Studies of asteroids would aid Earth-protection strategies A new space mission concept unveiled at a Paris conference aims to look inside asteroids to reveal how they are made. Deep Interior would use radar to probe the origin and evolution of two near-Earth objects less than 1km across. The mission, which could launch some time later this decade, would also give clues to how the planets evolved. The perceived threat of asteroids colliding with our planet has renewed interest in space missions to understand these...