Scientists Have Found Traces of Nitrogen Compounds in 4 Billion-year-old Martian Meteorite

Mars has been the subject of interest ever since scientists have been looking forward to finding the possibility of living on the red planet.

This research has added a new twist as a team of scientists has discovered a 4 billion-year-old Martian meteorite which once hit Antarctica.

In a press release by Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), the team has revealed to have found traces of organic compounds in the meteorite. The meteorite contains nitrogen-bearing organic material in carbonate minerals. This is the first-ever evidence of the presence of organic compounds on the red planet.

The team consisted of Atsuko Kobayashi from ELSI at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan and research scientist Mizuho Koike from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Atsuko stated, “This Martian meteorite, ALH84001 is famous, with hundreds of papers published on it. I have been working on it occasionally for about 20 years because I am an electron microscopist who studies tiny magnetic particles made by magnetotactic bacteria”.

As claimed by him, this particular meteorite is at “the centre of the ‘life on Mars’ debate”.

As per the team estimation, the meteorite belongs to the Mars’ Noachian age and has been preserved for over 4 billion years.

The detailed study has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

The study concludes the existence of wet and organic-rich early Mars, which makes it favourable for the existence of life forms.