Scientists find evidence of organic matter on Ceres

(ANSA) - Rome, February 17 - Scientists have for the first time ever found evidence of organic matter outside Earth, according to an article published in the scientific magazine Nature.
    An international research team led by Maria Cristina De Sanctis of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) has spotted organic molecules on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres.
    They made the discovery using the Visual and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR) with high spatial and spectral resolution onboard NASA's Dawn mission, provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under the scientific guidance of INAF and manufactured by Italian defence and aerospace giant Leonardo.
    "Never before have we seen with such clarity the presence of organic matter on other celestial bodies," De Sanctis said. "And, what is more important, it almost certainly originated in loco, on Ceres, rather than being transported by the impact of other objects," she added. VIR spotted organic material covering an area of approximately 1,000 sqkm. "We have not found traces of life, but rather a 'concentrate' of very interesting compounds that makes Ceres a very 'appealing' place for the study of the origins of life," De Sanctis continued. Other space missions had already identified the presence of organic molecules on other celestial bodies, but these were mostly aminoacids and the observations were not conclusive. The new data from the Dawn mission shows with certainty the presence of aliphatic compounds, the elements used by living creatures to build cell membranes. "We still don't know how life on Earth evolved, whether through processes that took place entirely on this planet or arrived 'pre-packaged' from outside, or a mixture of the two," said astrobiologist Daniela Billi of Rome's Tor Vergata University and not part of the study. "But thanks to the new data we know that some basic components of life can originate in celestial bodies such as Ceres. Compounds that may have been transported, via meteorite showers, to Europe and Enceladus where conditions for life to develop could exist."