Meteorites that fall to Earth are ancient time capsules, and scientists merging two imaging techniques could tell us if and how they brought water to Earth.
This new method is known as coordinated neutron and X-ray computed tomography and is basically an upgraded CT scan. Just as how diagnostic CT scans create cross-sections that are then reassembled into a 3D image which help doctors see what is going on inside the body without operating, the X-rays and neutron beams fired at a meteorite fragment in NXCT safely reveal what types of minerals and other elements or compounds it is made of, including water and other volatiles .
What the NIST researchers were looking for was either of the two forms of water. Hydrogen and oxygen fuse to create regular water, but there is also heavy water, whose hydrogen atoms each have an extra neutron that turns them into deuterium.
What gives NXCT an advantage in unearthing elements in a meteorite is that the neutrons aimed at the piece of rock will bounce off any trapped hydrogen, while heavier elements give themselves away by scattering X-rays. If evidence of water is found, 3D images created after the initial observation can also tell how it got there.
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