Meteorite that smashed through a New Jersey roof reveals clues to life’s origins
A rare meteorite that crashed through a New Jersey roof contains evidence of ancient salty fluids, organic compounds, and amino acids from a primitive asteroid. Its pristine chemistry could offer new clues about how space rocks helped supply early Earth with some of the ingredients needed for life.
A meteorite weighing over two pounds struck the roof of a home in Hillsborough, New Jersey on July 16, 2024, as a meteor streaked across the New York City area, creating a sonic boom. The recovered meteorite, belonging to the primitive CM-type carbonaceous chondrite family, contained bits preserved near the surface of its parent asteroid, experiencing concentrated salty fluids in a process previously not observed in this type of proto-planet world.
The meteorite was classified as a CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite, placing it between the petrographic CM1 and CM2 categories and marking only the 22nd observed fall involving a CM-type meteorite.
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