According to the Daily Telegraph of October 9, water ice and organic molecules that help to form the basis of life have been discovered on a second asteroid, called 65 Cybele, by astronomers。
The finding was reported at a meeting of planetary scientists in Pasadena, California, where scientists said the presence of ice lends support to theories that life on Earth was seeded from out of space after being carried here on asteroids。
The researchers made a similar discovery in April this year when they discovered the first evidence of ice on an asteroid called 24 Themis。
Both this asteroid and the latest discovery are found in the asteroid belt that sits between Mars and Jupiter。
"This discovery suggests that this region of our solar system contains more water ice than anticipated," said Professor Humberto Campins, an astronomer from University of Central Florida who led the research team, "It supports the theory that asteroids may have hit the Earth and brought our planet its water and the building blocks for life to form and evolve here."
Professor Campins presented his findings at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences in Pasadena, California。