Scientists discover a meteorite

Scientists believe they have identified a meteorite formed in the first million years of our solar system, making it the oldest known meteor of volcanic origin.

The space rock, which began its journey about 4.5 billion years ago, has been “outstanding” evidence of the building blocks of the planets. Known as Erg Chech 002, the meteorite was discovered in May 2020 by meteor hunters in the Algerian Sahara desert. He had rested undisturbed for “at least 100 years”, according to Jean-Alix Barrat, a geologist at the University of Brest in France.

In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Barrat and his colleagues describe its discovery and several rare features.

There are 43 officially recorded fragments, but “probably about a hundred” are either still in the ground or uncounted, the study said. The largest ones are “as big as a fist,” Barrat said.


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