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A chunk of the meteorite that has been recovered from
Winchcombe (The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London) |
A meteorite discovered in the United Kingdom contains an
exceptionally unusual mix of minerals that may provide scientists with insight
into the formation of the Solar System and even the origins of life on Earth.
A sparkling fireball zoomed over southwest England on
February 28, bringing the meteorite to Earth. At the time, scientists
speculated that a large number of pieces of the space rock had fallen to Earth.
According to a statement from the Natural History Museum in
London, one of these fragments fell on a driveway in Winchcombe, a town in
Gloucestershire.
The occupants of the house noticed a dark, sooty splotch on
their driveway and immediately bagged up bits of the meteorite, alerting the UK
Meteor Observation Network, which then contacted the Natural History Museum.
The finder did an amazing job collecting it for someone who
had no idea what it was, according to Ashley King, a meteorite researcher at
the museum.
On Monday morning, maybe less than 12 hours after the
incident, he Bagged up the majority of it. For the next few days, he continued
to find bits in his backyard.
It's important to collect falling meteorites as soon as
possible after they hit the ground, as rain or exposure to the atmosphere can
easily contaminate them. The collected fragments total nearly 11 ounces (300
grams) and are the first pieces of falling space rock to be discovered in the
United Kingdom since 1991.
The museum researchers classified the meteorite as a
carbonaceous chondrite, an unusual type of meteorite that formed in the early
days of the Solar System when the first planets formed, after analyzing the
rocky fragments.
Meteorites like this are fossils from the early solar
system, which means they can reveal the composition of the planets, according
to Sara Russell, a museum researcher who studies carbonaceous chondrite
meteorites.
However, we also believe that meteorites like this may have
carried water to Earth, resulting in the planet's oceans.
New footage of the #fireball tonight. Sent by Katie Parr pic.twitter.com/J4jmsM9tFj
— UK Meteor Network (@UKMeteorNetwork) February 28, 2021
The meteorite itself resembles coal but is much softer and
more delicate, according to King. The texture of the space rock suggests that
it contains soft clay minerals and, as a result, once held water ice.
Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are typically composed of a mixture of
minerals and organic compounds, including amino acids, which are the building
blocks of proteins.
It's almost unbelievable, because we're working on the
asteroid-sample-return space missions Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx, and this
material looks just like the stuff they're collecting, according to Russell.
According to the announcement, both of these spacecraft’s
were equipped to capture and collect samples from asteroids; Hayabusa2 returned
to Earth in 2020 with 0.16 ounces (4.5 grams) of space rock, and OSIRIS-REx is
expected to deliver around 2.1 ounces (60 grams) of samples in 2023.
The Winchcombe meteorite, on the other hand, has provided
the museum with more than 10 ounces (280 grams) of carbonaceous chondrite to
sample. The minerals are likely to have survived their descent to Earth because
they hit the ground at a relatively slow speed of 28,800 mph (46,800 km/h),
according to the researchers.
Although that might sound fast, meteorites can travel at
speeds of up to 154,800 mph (252,000 km/h) through the atmosphere, a velocity
that would disintegrate a carbonaceous chondrite before it ever reached the
earth, according to King.
"We've really lucked out with everything," she
said of the Winchcombe meteorite, "because it was moving very slowly, and
then it was retrieved quite quickly after impact, preventing any rainfall that
could alter its pristine composition."
Originally Published By Live Science Read Original Article Here
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