An extraordinary meteorite was found in Antarctica, and it could shed the evolution of the solar system.
Rare Meteorite Unearthed in Antarctica
A massive space rock containing the oldest material in the solar system was unearthed at the South Pole. It is one of the biggest meteorites ever found and may bring new information about the evolution of the Sun and planets, Daily Star reported.
The meteorite weighs 17 pounds (7.6 kg) and has black composition, which is a stark contrast to the snow white ground.
Dr. Maria Valdes of The Field Museum, Chicago, said when it comes to meteorites, size doesn't matter because even those tiny ones are valuable from a scientific point of view. However, finding a large one is "very rare."
Professor Maria Schonbachler of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, echoed the same sentiment. She considered the rare find a "kind of luck."
She added that the space rock appears to be an ordinary chondrite, which contains the oldest material in the solar system. It probably originated from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Dr. Ashley King of the Natural History Museum in London added that they rarely find meteorites that big in Antarctica. The more meteorite they have, the more sample they have to study the early solar system.
In the past centuries, researchers have discovered over 45,000 meteorites in the area. However, only 100 were as large as the recent space rock unearthed.
Most meteorites they found ranged from tens to hundreds of grams. The expedition members ride on snowmobiles to check potential sites they had already previously mapped using satellite images.
The meteorite is kept in a cool box to keep it safe from thawing, which could damage its delicate chemical structure. It will be sent to Belgium for further analysis.
Meteorite Crashes Onto UK Driveway
In related news, another meteorite landed in a driveway in the United Kingdom. The space rock was well preserved when it hit Earth, according to Daily Star in a separate report.
The Winchcombe meteorite landed in Gloucestershire in 2021. It reportedly contains amino acids, which hold the secret to how life begins on the planet.
Queenie Chan, who led the research for Royal Holloway, University of London, said studying its organic inventory offers them a window into the past and how simple chemistry sparked the origin of life at the solar system's birth.
The meteorite is thought to be 4.6 billion years old. Just like the one found in Antarctica, the space rock was believed to originate from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was the first meteorite found in Britain since 1991.
Fragments of the meteorite are displayed at the London Natural History Museum.
What is a Meteorite?
Meteorites are space rocks that fall to Earth, according to National Geographic. They are fragments of spatial matter.
Meteorites are originally meteoroids, lumps of rock or metal that orbit the Sun. Meteoroids become meteors when they crash into the Earth's atmosphere. The gases surrounding them briefly light up as "shooting stars."
Most meteorites that fall to Earth come from the Asteroid Belt. When they travel to Earth, they cause an explosion and create an impact crater.
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