Scientists have proposed a hypothesis suggesting that certain types of microorganisms on Earth may have safely migrated to Titan, a moon of Saturn located within our solar system.
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Approximately 100 rock fragments from Earth fall onto Europa |
It is highly likely that the rock fragments ejected from Earth due to a historic impact with a meteorite 65 million years ago carried life to Titan. The microorganisms from Earth within these fragments could have seeded organic life there.
At a recent workshop on Earth and the Moon held in Houston, USA, scientists argued that the colossal cosmic impact that wiped out the dinosaurs was so powerful that it could have propelled rock fragments from Earth to Titan.
According to calculations, for rock fragments containing living microorganisms to be safely ejected from Earth, the cosmic rock must collide with Earth at a speed of 10-50 km/s. This has been corroborated by computer models analyzing a crater measuring 160-240 km, believed to be the remnant of that collision in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.
A Million-Year Journey
Brett Gladman from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and his team estimate that up to 600 million rock fragments were ejected from Earth and entered solar orbit due to the catastrophic impact. Some of these hundreds of millions of fragments likely traveled to the orbits of Saturn and Jupiter. The moons Titan and Europa of these two giant planets are of particular interest to astrobiologists.
Latest exploratory results indicate that Titan possesses sufficient organic compounds to potentially fuel the first forms of life. In contrast, Europa contains only seawater hidden beneath a thick layer of ice.
Dr. Gladman’s team estimates that around 20 rock fragments from Earth could reach Titan. These fragments enter Titan’s atmosphere at a speed of 10-15 km/s, a velocity slow enough for the organisms within them to survive the lengthy journey of approximately one million years until they land on Titan’s surface.
For Europa, the situation appears less favorable. Up to 100 rock fragments might reach Europa. However, Jupiter’s strong gravitational force accelerates these fragments to 25 km/s, causing them to impact Europa’s surface at a speed of 40 km/s. Computer simulations show that at such landing speeds, simple life forms like amino acids within the rocks would sustain significant damage.
The unanswered question remains whether life can develop under Titan’s frigid temperatures. This new discovery reinforces the hypothesis that life on Earth may have been seeded similarly to life on Titan.
In fact, fragments of meteorites or dust from comets could have brought life from distant parts of the vast universe to Earth, where they then thrived and evolved to the present day.
Q.D
