Meteor may give clues on origin of life

The Leonid meteor, containing the debris of Comet Temple Tuttle, has assumed special significance this time as scientists are preparing to conduct studies on its chemical composition in their search for presence of any organic molecules, Dr Siddarth said. These studies would be of particular interest in the wake of recent discovery of possible existence of life on Mars in the remotepast, he added. Since Temple Tuttle had come very close to the sun in February this year, the debris is likely to be more enriched with comet material and provide a great opportunity to conduct experiments, Dr Siddarth said.

The studies, being conducted by the United States with the help of two aircraft to be stationed in the vicinity of the scene of action8217;, are expected to provide new insight into the origin of life. While it is generally believed that life on earth originated in the oceans a few billion years ago, renowned astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle and a few others had propounded that life originated in outer space and was brought down to the planet by meteors, he said.