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A meteorite found in the UK contains an extremely rare combination of minerals that could give scientists some insight into the formation of the solar system and even the emergence of life on Earth.
The meteorite fell to Earth on February 28, when a dazzling fireball flew over the southwest of England, Previously reported Live Science. At the time, scientists suspected that many fragments of space rock had likely reached the ground. One of these fragments landed on an alley in Winchcombe, a town in Gloucestershire, according to a statement from the Natural History Museum in London.
Noticing a black and sooty stain on their driveway, occupants of the house pocketed pieces of the meteorite and quickly alerted the UK Meteor Observation Network, which then contacted the Natural History Museum.
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“For someone who didn’t really have a clue what it really was, the researcher did a fantastic job collecting it,” said Ashley King, a museum researcher who studies meteorites. “He packed most of it very quickly on Monday morning, maybe less than 12 hours after the actual event. He then continued to find pieces in his yard over the next few days.”
It is important to collect meteorites that fall soon after they touch the ground, as they can quickly become contaminated by rain or exposure to the atmosphere, Live Science reported. In all, the collected fragments weigh nearly 11 ounces (300 grams) and represent the first pieces of fallen space rock recovered in the UK since 1991, according to the museum statement.
After examining the rock fragments, museum researchers identified the meteorite as carbonaceous chondrite, a rare type of meteorite that originated from an ancient asteroid forged in the early days of the solar system when the first planets formed.
“Meteorites like this are relics of the early solar system, which means they can tell us what planets are made of,” Sara Russell, a museum researcher who studies carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, said in the statement. . “But we also think that meteorites like this may have brought water Earth, providing the planet with its oceans. “
The meteorite itself looks a bit like coal but is much softer and brittle, King said in the statement. The texture suggests that the space rock contains soft clay minerals and, therefore, once contained water ice. In general, carbonaceous chondrite meteorites usually contain a mixture of minerals and organic compounds, including amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
“It’s almost mind-blowing, as we are working on the Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return space missions, and this material looks exactly like the material they are collecting,” Russell said in the statement. These two spacecraft were designed to intercept and collect asteroid samples; Hayabusa2 returned to Earth in 2020, bearing 0.16 ounces (4.5 grams) of space rock, and OSIRIS-REx is Expected Delivery about 2.1 ounces (60 grams) of samples in 2023, according to the release.
But thanks to the Winchcombe meteorite, museum researchers now have more than 10 ounces (280 grams) of carbonaceous chondrite to study. The minerals likely survived their fall to Earth because they descended relatively slowly, hitting the ground at 28,800 mph (46,800 km / h), the researchers noted.
Although it may seem fast, meteorites can reach speeds of up to 252,000 km / h (154,800 mph) as they pass through the atmosphere – a rate that would cause carbonaceous chondrite to decay even before it hits. does not touch the ground, King said in the statement.
Regarding the Winchcombe meteorite, “the fact that it went quite slowly, then was recovered so quickly after landing, avoiding any rain that could change its pristine makeup, means that we really had some luck. luck with everything, “she said.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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