A rare meteorite that struck a home in Hillsborough, New Jersey, has given scientists new insight into the role water-rich asteroids may have played in delivering organic material to early Earth. The meteorite fell on July 16, 2024, shortly after a daytime meteor crossed the New York City area and produced a sonic boom near the Statue of Liberty. The incoming rock entered Earth’s atmosphere at about 32,000 miles per hour and fragmented as it descended. Weather radar later detected a trail of falling debris stretching from Staten Island into New Jersey. Hillsborough lay near the end of that path, where the largest fragments landed.

Scientists identified the recovered specimen as a CM1/2 carbonaceous chondrite, an extremely rare primitive meteorite. It is only the second witnessed fall of this intermediate type, after the Kolang meteorite in Indonesia in 2020. The classification indicates that the rock experienced unusually extensive alteration by liquid water on its parent asteroid. Researchers discovered small, salt-rich fragments inside the meteorite. These may have formed close to the asteroid’s surface, where water evaporated and concentrated dissolved salts. Similar briny minerals have been found in samples returned from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu.

The Hillsborough meteorite contained 1.8% carbon and 0.07% nitrogen, along with numerous soluble organic compounds. Scientists also detected amino acids, carboxylic acids and magnesium-bearing organic molecules. Their distribution suggests that some of these compounds formed inside the asteroid, potentially through reactions supported by salty fluids. Such brines are important because they can keep phosphate dissolved and promote chemical reactions involving organic molecules and minerals.
Researchers believe CM-type asteroids may therefore have contributed essential prebiotic ingredients to the young Earth before life emerged. Fragments of the meteorite will be preserved at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for future research and public study.

For more details, read the full article by SETI Institute.