Meteor over New York City: brines in a primitive CM asteroid
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The CI (Ivuna-type) carbonaceous material returned from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu contain mobilized sodium from the evaporation or freezing of liquid water into brines, shedding light on the internal structure of ice-rich CI-type worlds and the formation of prebiotic organic compounds. The formation of brines has not been demonstrated in CM (Mighei-type) carbonaceous chondrites, which also supplied organic matter to the early Earth. Here, we announce the fall of a primitive meteorite from a daytime fireball over the New York metropolitan area in July 2024. It is a CM2 breccia that contains unique CM1 clasts rich in water and sodium. The meteorite contains abundant amino acids and other products of organic chemistry in brines that reveal subsurface processes on CM-type asteroid parent bodies.
Date Issued
2026-07-17
Date Acceptance
2026-06-17
Citation
Science Advances, 2026, 12 (29)
ISSN
2375-2548
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Journal / Book Title
Science Advances
Volume
12
Issue
29
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
eaea2105
Date Publish Online
2026-07-15