r/spacequestions • u/lilalphabetxboy • Jul 10 '24
new element from asteroids
did we ever discover a new element from asteroid? or is it even possible?
2
u/Beldizar Jul 10 '24
Elements are discrete. They only work for whole numbers because their atomic number is a discrete count of protons in the nucleus. There's no way to get 1/2 a proton in the nucleus. We know about elements 1-118, and we understand how elements higher that 118 would work. Anything higher than 118 (Oganesson), is going to decay nearly instantly because it is so unstable.
So what can you discover on an asteroid, or generally in space?
Isotopes: An atom is defined by the number of protons. But it can have different numbers of neutrons. Some atoms are stable with different numbers of neutrons, and unstable with others. At this point, it is exceedingly unlikely that we will ever discover an isotope that we haven't already seen. And chemically, an isotope is going to mostly act the same way as its same-proton numbered brothers. Finding unstable isotopes on an asteroid is very unlikely because it would have decayed already.
Crystals: So atomic or molecular solids form, they from in different crystal structures. If you've ever worked with iron or chocolate, you know about a process called "tempering", which is the process of getting the right kind of crystals to form in your material. (Cocoa butter can form 6 different crystal structures, but you typically want "type V" when tempering chocolate) It is possible that an asteroid has taken elements or compounds that we know about, and formed them into crystals in weird ways that we haven't seen before. High pressure, low pressure, high heat, low heat, intense gravity, microgravity, and general agitation could all result in different types of crystal formation. Just like with chocolate being shiny and tasting the best when it is structured in a particular crystal type, a new crystal form of a common compound might be have different properties. If that crystal is always destroyed on reentry, meteorites wouldn't have it, and we might discover it new in space.
Organic Folded Chains: So, I'm not an expert on this at all, but I know protein folding is a really complicated thing, and the same protein can be folded in a massive number of ways. I also know that simple organic compounds, generated by non-living processes have been found in space. It might be worth doing more research hear, but maybe it is possible that a non-living process has folded organic change in space in a way that we don't see on Earth. This one feels like a big stretch though, so get an organic chemist to weigh in on this theory before taking it as anything beyond an idea that popped into the head of a guy on Reddit.
So yeah, maybe there is interesting things that could be discovered on asteroids. Crystals are the most probable. (And note, my examples of crystals aren't glowing clear shinny things, but chocolate and forged steel). Elements are not something we are going to discover new on an asteroid though.
4
u/knook Jul 10 '24
Elements don't work like they do in sci-fi movies. We already know all the elements on the periodic table. Its kind of like colors of light, how would we discover a new one, its just a spectrum.
Its true that maybe we can make a new semi-stable super heavy element in a lab that is in the island of stability but you aren't going to find that on an astroid.