Scientists have always thought meteorites carried the essential building blocks of life to the planets in the solar system. A new study, however, suggests that meteorites are apparently just remnants of rock and dust from planet formations.

This study conducted by researchers from the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Purdue University suggests meteorites didn't carry the building blocks of life that propagated life on planets as these are merely the remnants and byproducts of planets.

Like Us on Facebook

Meteors contain small spherical particles of molten droplets called chondrules found on their surface. Scientists believe these chondrules were the actual building blocks that made life possible in the solar system's planets. These chondrules were created from the collision of gas, dust and rocks that eventually made planets during the early stages of the formation of the solar system.

Chondrules are round grains found in chondrites, which are stony (non-metallic) meteorites not modified due to melting or differentiation of the parent body.

Using elaborate computer simulations, scientists now think chondrules are what remained of these collisions among protoplanetary bodies during the solar system's early formation stage, which was a violent intergalactic process.

This tells the story of how the solar system was formed along with its planets since meteors were just smaller fragments of material from the early formation of protoplanets and not necessarily the actual rocky parts of protoplanets carrying life, according to Brandon Johnson from MIT's Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Department.

This means the infant solar system experienced some great colossal impacts during an extreme process that led to its creation.

Using simulations of a moon and asteroid to study these collisions between protoplanets, researchers demonstrated that bodies similar to the size of the moon formed faster even before chondrules first appeared on meteors.

These simulations also show not all collisions formed chondrules on meteors into the first five million years of the solar system.

Scientists now know that chondrites are not reliable sources to determine how the solar system was formed, says Fred Ciesla, an associate professor of planetary science at the University of Chicago. Meteorites still hold important clues how the early solar system was formed, however.

TagsMIT Scientists: Meteors Did Not Form the Solar System, MIT, solar system, how the solar system was formed, meteors, meteorites, asteroids, protoplanetary collision, origin of planets