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Comets Probably Seeded Earth's Nitrogen Atmosphere

KentuckyFC writes "One of the biggest puzzles of astrobiology is the origin of the Earth's oceans and atmosphere. One favored theory is that our water is the leftovers from a bombardment of comets early in Earth's history. But the ratio of hydrogen and deuterium in the oceans doesn't match the ratio in the four comets measured so far (Halley's, Hyakutake, Hale-Bopp and C/2002 T7 LINEAR). Now a new analysis of the ratio of nitrogen-14 and 15 isotopes in these comets and on Earth places new limits on how much of our environment could have come from comets. On the one hand, the astronomers who did the work say that no more than a few percent of Earth's water could have come from comets. But on the other, they say that the ratio of nitrogen isotopes in these comets almost exactly matches the ratio in Earth's atmosphere. That suggests that while Earth's oceans must have come from somewhere else, Earth's early atmosphere was probably seeded by comets."

6 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Nitrogen came from comets . . . by rattaroaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nitrogen came from comets, and methane came from Uranus.

  2. Re:But there's soooo much water on (and in) Earth. by socsoc · · Score: 2, Funny

    Duh, it reproduced once it arrived on Earh.

  3. No, no by djconrad · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone knows nitrogen is here because of the Holy Sauce dripped from His Noodly Appendage.

  4. I'm sorry Fry, but... by Kratisto · · Score: 3, Funny

    Astronomers renamed that planet in 2020 to stop that stupid joke once and for all.
    Oh. What's it called now?
    Urectum

    --
    Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
  5. Re: No, it isn't a mystery.... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dude, your passage doesn't actually say anything about where the ocean and atmosphere came from. It just claims that God pushed some water around a bit.

    If you're going to vest your credibility in a mythological text, you should at least read it carefully.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  6. Re:That seems to make some sense. by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah but how do we know he's a real, licensed astronomer?