Upon studying Lovejoy, it was also discovered that this object had expelled 21 types of organic molecules, including formaldehyde (a unsafe compound, known as a carcinogen), ethyl alcohol (just like the one found in alcoholic drinks) and glycolaldehyde (a type of sugar).
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The team analysed the atmosphere of the comet at this time when it was at its most active and brightest, observing a microwave glow from the comet using the 30-metre diameter radio telescope at Pico Veleta in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain.
C/2014 Q2, or more memorably dubbed “Comet Lovejoy”, was the 5th comet that was discovered in 2014 by astronomer Terry Lovejoy. According to the researchers, the quantities were also enormous. The observatory has estimated at least 500 bottles of liquor per second was being dumped by the heavenly body through its tail.
Although researchers will continue to observe the comet’s intricate makeup, a few scientists have posited that the organic molecules brought to earth from comets “delivered a supply of organic molecules that could have assisted the origin of life”, according to NASA’s Bill Steigerwald.
The vast majority of comets originate either in the Kuiper belt or the Oort cloud, however gravitational disturbances can manipulate the orbits of these enigmatic bodies, causing them to pass relatively close to the Sunday. As comets are one of the first and earliest type of residue in the solar system, they could have helped transport these organic elements to Earth and might have prompted the appearance of life on the blue planet.
Now, the availability of water and other organic molecules has been connected with life on a planet. Celestial bodies like Lovejoy carried elements that might have jumpstarted the beginnings of life on Earth as comets hit the planet billions of years ago.
The theory has been certainly gaining more ground.
According to The Verge, many space rocks were formed when the galactic neighborhood was first formed, so they may contain ancient gas and dust cloud that created the sun and its orbiting planets. Comets and asteroids could have been the very progenitors that surpassed their limitations, by venturing closer to the sun than experts would’ve believed possible.
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A few dramatic impacts and shifts could have led to a rain of them coming down on our very own planet. And those moments might have resulted in what we have today.
