火星可能曾经是蓝色的

研究陨石发现，火星可能曾经是蓝色的

Scientists have discovered 4-billion-year-old organic molecules containing nitrogen in a Martian meteorite, shedding new light on the red planet’s early history.

科学家在火星陨石中发现了40亿年前的含氮有机分子，为这颗红色星球的早期历史提供了新的线索。

The meteorite, ALH 84001, was ejected from the surface of the red planet 15 million years ago, according to scientists. It was found in Antarctica in 1984.

据科学家称，这颗陨石编号为ALH 84001，是1500万年前从这颗红色行星的表面喷射出来的。它于1984年在南极洲被发现。

The discovery was made by a team that included experts from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

这一发现是由一个小组完成的，该小组成员包括来自东京理工大学地球生命科学研究所(ELSI)和日本宇宙航空研究开发机构(JAXA)空间和航天科学研究所的专家。

Scientists say that the discovery of nitrogen molecules offers clues to what Mars was once like. Specifically that the presence of water on the planet may have once given it a significantly different appearance to the red planet we now know.

科学家说，氮分子的发现为火星曾经的样子提供了线索。特别是，火星上的水可能曾经使它的外观与我们现在所知道的红色星球完全不同。

“Because carbonate minerals typically precipitate from the groundwater, this finding suggests a wet and organic-rich early Mars, which could have been habitable and favorable for life to start,” they explain in a statement. “Early Mars may have been more ‘Earth-like’, less oxidizing, wetter and organic-rich. Perhaps it was ‘blue.’”

他们在一份声明中解释说:“由于碳酸盐岩矿物通常会从地下水中沉淀出来，这一发现表明，早期的火星是湿润的，富含有机物，可能适合居住，有利于生命的开始。”“早期的火星可能更‘像地球’，氧化性更小，更湿润，富含有机物。也有可能是‘蓝色’的。”

The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

这项研究发表在《自然通讯》杂志上。

In the study, experts note that the current surface of the red planet is too harsh for most organics to survive, although organic compounds could likely be preserved in the near-surface of Mars for billions of years. “This seems to be the case for the nitrogen-bearing organic compounds the team found in the ALH84001 carbonates, which appear to have been trapped in the minerals 4 billion years ago and preserved for long periods before finally being delivered to Earth,” they explain in the statement.

在这项研究中，专家们指出，目前这颗红色星球的表面过于严酷，大多数有机物无法生存，尽管有机化合物可能在火星近地表保存数十亿年。他们在声明中解释说：“这似乎是研究小组在ALH84001碳酸盐岩中发现的含氮有机化合物的情况，这些化合物似乎在40亿年前被困在矿物中，并保存了很长一段时间，最后才被送到地球。”。