[ad_1]
- It is very rare that we discover something on our planet that existed before even being a small point. But from time to time we do it, and this meteorite is a living testament.
- Scientists estimate that the new discovery dates from about 4.6 billion years ago, almost as old as the solar system itself.
- New discoveries like this one bring us closer to what could be an earlier version of the Earth.
For thousands of years, humans were completely unaware of the existence of the solar system. They believed that the Earth was the center of the universe.
Since then we have proved that we were very wrong. Scientists have discovered that the solar system was created during the explosion of a supernova. The resulting gases and dusts were combined about 4.6 billion years ago.
How our planet was formed remains a mystery.
What is the discovery and why is it important?
Photo: University of New Mexico
This meteorite is the oldest known volcanic rock in the solar system, dated at 4,565,000,000 years ago.
Northwest Africa (NWA) 11119 is a small rock about the size of a baseball. It is formed of a bright green meteorite and has an unusual light green melting crust. Broken fragments from the inside revealed brilliant green and gray crystals of up to 3 mm. Scientists expect it to be about 4.6 billion years old, almost as much as the solar system itself.
The rock was purchased by a meteorite dealer in Mauritania, Africa in 2016. It weighs 453 g. She is currently at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum.
For those unfamiliar with meteorites, it can be difficult to distinguish between a terrestrial rock and a real meteorite. To make matters worse, many sellers are trying to disguise land rocks into meteorites to rip off their customers.
Many people are surprised that meteorites can be bought, sold and collected outside museums and laboratories. However, since the invention of the Internet, the number of collectors and merchants has increased.
eBay is actually one of the most popular websites for buying and selling meteorites. However, before using such websites, it is important that you take the necessary precautions and that you buy them from reputable resellers. For example, sites such as Meteorite exchange has a page that summarizes known reseller announcements to help buyers make more informed decisions.
To make the process of buying and selling meteorites safer, meteorite resellers are often hired to confirm that what the customer is buying is a real meteorite (ie, that's the only one). it comes from the space) and not just a rock.
At first glance, this meteorite did not look much like
When the rock was discovered, the planetary geologist and conservative meteorite of the University of New Mexico, Carl Agee, did not think at all that it was a meteorite. In fact, he thought it was a rock of the Earth.
He then passed it on to his PhD student, Poorna Srinivasan, for her examination.
Although the rock is very similar to Earth's volcanic rocks, its chemical composition clearly revealed that it came from space and was not just an ordinary meteorite.
What is the peculiarity of the meteorite?
Photo: Fred Kruijen / Wikimedia Commons
Skeleton of a tridymite crystal.
NWA 11119 it's been revealed to be 4.6 billion years old. This makes it the oldest igneous meteorite (that is, formed by the cooling and solidification of magma or lava) never discovered. Scientists have discovered several non-igneous meteorites that are even older.
About 30% of the meteorite is composed of tridymite, which is essentially large silica crystals. Such high tridymite content is virtually unknown in meteorites. This is comparable to levels found in volcanic rocks on Earth.
How often do we encounter things older than the Earth?
It's easy to see why this discovery is so exciting. It is not very often that we encounter things older than our planet – but there have been some examples in recent years.
In fact, the analysis of NWA 11119 revealed that it had a strong chemical resemblance to two other known unusual meteorites: NWA 7235 (discovered in 2011) and Almahata Sitta (discovered in 2008). The link is strong enough to suggest that these three space rocks could potentially come from the same parent body.
In November 2015, geologists working in the hinterland of South Australia recovered a primordial meteorite from Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. It was thought that this meteorite was a chondrite or stony meteorite and served as an example of the material created during the formation of the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago.
Moreover, just a few months ago, scientists discovered on Earth star dust particles that are even older than our solar system. Its chemical composition, which indicates the distance traveled by the particles, suggests that the grains must be significantly older than 4.6 billion years.
What happens next?
We still have a lot to understand about the formation of planets, and in particular about the formation of the earth's crust.
However, from time to time, new discoveries such as this one bring us a little closer to what could be an earlier version of the Earth. In recent years, scientists have even discovered frozen meteorites in Antarctica.
Hope that one day we will be able to gather enough evidence to come to a reasonable conclusion.
Source link
