[ad_1]
NASA and NOAA researchers reported discovering fragments of a meteorite in the depths of the ocean
On March 7, a meteorite crashed into the sea. Pacific Ocean after illuminating Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. . Four months later, a team of researchers went to search for the fallen meteorite. On July 1, researchers aboard the exploration vessel Nautilus studied the seabed off the coast of Washington using multibeam sonar, but found nothing substantial. The next day, two remotely operated submarines – Hercules and Argus – were deployed to locate the meteorite site. The survey lasted approximately seven hours
While exploring the site, the researchers collected several sediment samples using a suction pipe, a magnetic plate and a from a sediment spoon. When the researchers analyzed these samples in the laboratory, they found traces of extraterrestrial origin in two of these rooms.
Each fragment is about 2 to 3 millimeters wide and presumably comes from "the outside of the meteorite that melted and flowed like glaze on the pottery when it penetrated into the atmosphere" . If confirmed, they would be the first fragments of meteorites recovered from the ocean. "Meteorite fragments are small pieces of rock melted," says Marc Fries, conservator of NASA's cosmic dust, "essentially made of glass, and these glassy materials melted by flash do not have a long history in sea water. It's a proof that they come from something that has fallen. "
Researchers will perform a more detailed analysis of meteorite fragments and determine if they actually come from the massive meteorite recently fallen in the Pacific Ocean.
Source link
