A meteorite found in the UK contains an extremely rare combination of minerals that could tell scientists how the solar system formed and even how life on Earth arose.
The meteorite fell to Earth on February 28, when a flashing ball of fire focused on the southwest of England, Live Science reported. At the time, scientists suspected that probably some fragments of the space rock hit the ground.
One of these fragments landed at an entrance to Winchcombe, a town in Gloucestershire, according to a statement from the Natural History Museum in London.
When they noticed a black spot of soot on their roadway, the occupants of the house wrapped pieces of meteorite and quickly alerted the UK’s meteorite observation network, which contacted the Museum. of Natural History.
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“For someone who really had no idea what it really was, the finder did a fantastic job collecting it,” said Ashley King, a museum researcher who studies meteorites.
“On Monday morning he wrapped up most of it quickly, maybe less than 12 hours after the actual event. Then he continued to find bits and pieces in his garden for the next few days.”
It is important to collect fallen meteorites shortly after touching the ground, as they can be quickly contaminated by rain or exposure to the atmosphere, Live Science reported. In total, the fragments collected weigh almost 300 grams and represent the first pieces of fallen space rock recovered in the UK since 1991, according to the museum’s statement.
Examining the rock fragments, museum researchers identified the meteorite as a 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 first solar systems, which means they can tell us what the planets are made of,” said in a statement Sara Russell, a museum researcher studying carbonate chondrite meteorites.
“But also … we think meteorites like this may have brought water to Earth, providing the planet with its oceans.”
New images of the #ball of fire tonight. Posted by Katie Parr pic.twitter.com/J4jmsM9tFj
– UK meteorite network (@UKMeteorNetwork) February 28, 2021
The meteorite itself looks a bit like coal, but it is much softer and more fragile, King said in the statement. The texture suggests that the space rock contains soft clay minerals and therefore once contained water ice. In general, carbonate chondrite meteorites usually contain a mixture of minerals and organic compounds, including amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.
“It’s almost amazing, because we’re working on the space missions to return asteroid samples Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx, and this material looks exactly like the material they’re collecting,” Russell said in the statement.
Both spacecraft were designed to intercept and collect asteroid samples; Hayabusa2 returned to Earth in 2020, with 0.16 ounces (4.5 grams) of space rock, and OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to deliver approximately 2.1 ounces (60 grams) of samples by 2023, according to the statement.
But thanks to the Winchcombe meteorite, museum researchers now have to study more than 280 grams of carbonaceous chondrite. The minerals probably survived their fall to Earth because they descended relatively slowly, hitting the ground at 46,800 km / h (28,800 mph), the researchers noted.
While this may sound fast, meteorites can reach speeds of up to 252,000 km / h (154,800 mph) as they traverse the atmosphere, a rate that could cause carbonaceous chondrite to disintegrate before it reaches the ground. said King in the statement.
As for the Winchcombe meteorite, “the fact that it went pretty slowly and then collected so quickly after landing, preventing precipitation that could change its pristine composition, means we were lucky with everything,” she said.
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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.