The stuff of life?
The amino acid glycine is found on a comet.
There’s a fascinating article on Reuters, published on the 18th. It is that scientists have finally proved that an amino
Comet Wild 2
acid found on a comet is extraterrestrial in origin and, therefore, supports the theory that life came to Planet Earth from the stars.
Microscopic traces of glycine were discovered in a sample of particles retrieved from the tail of comet Wild 2 by the NASA spacecraft Stardust deep in the solar system some 242 million miles (390 million km) from Earth, in January 2004.
Samples of gas and dust collected on a small dish lined with a super-fluffy material called aerogel were returned to Earth two years later in a canister that detached from the spacecraft and landed by parachute in the Utah desert.
There’s a fuller and more scientific description of the NASA Stardust spacecraft mission here. That site is well worth a visit if you are in the slightest way interested in space.
Comet Wild 2 from 147 miles away!
Stardust completed its 2.88 billion mile round-trip journey to a comet and back, bringing comet and interstellar dust particles back to Earth on January 15, 2006.
So when you next look into the eyes of your loved one,
and see starlight there,
it may not be entirely a romantic notion!
By Paul Handover
Paul Handover
