Earth was seasoned by countless blows

Earth’s composition was shaped by collisions from external objects The formation of planets around distant stars is not uncommon. With more than 5000 planets detected outside of our Solar System, it is estimated that at least 25% of stars harbor planets. However, astronomers have yet to definitively...

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Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 377; no. 6614; pp. 1490 - 1491
Main Author Leinhardt, Zoë Malka
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington The American Association for the Advancement of Science 30.09.2022
Subjects
Celestial bodies
Composition
Earth
Earth crust
Extrasolar planets
Planet formation
Planets
Solar system
Terrestrial planets
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Summary:Earth’s composition was shaped by collisions from external objects The formation of planets around distant stars is not uncommon. With more than 5000 planets detected outside of our Solar System, it is estimated that at least 25% of stars harbor planets. However, astronomers have yet to definitively find an Earth-like planet with the necessary characteristics to support life. Does this apparent rarity of Earth-like planets have something to do with the way Earth was formed? The history of Earth’s formation and composition is an ongoing debate. Recent studies have found that Earth’s current composition does not fully align with what would be expected if it was solely made up of the most primitive rocky meteorites. On page 1529 of this issue, Frossard et al. ( 1 ) show that the chemical makeup of Earth’s crust has changed over time as the result of countless impacts with smaller rocky bodies.
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.add3199