Meteorite containing material billions of years old discovered in Antarctica - New York Post

Scientists accidental they’ve recovered a abstraction stone for the ages successful Antarctica — an highly uncommon meteorite that contains immoderate of the oldest worldly successful the star system.

“When we saw this 1 conscionable sitting by itself successful the mediate of the bluish ice, we each got truthful excited,” Chicago Field Museum researcher Maria Valdes told the Chicago Tribune.

The 17-pound meteorite, described arsenic astir “the size of a gourd,” was discovered Jan. 5 by an planetary squad astatine the extremity of an 11-day expedition.

The bonzer rock, which contains worldly from billions of years ago, is 1 of the largest meteorites ever recovered connected the continent and apt originated successful the Main Asteroid Belt betwixt Mars and Jupiter, The Independent reported.

“To enactment the meteorite’s size successful perspective, of the 45,000 meteorites retrieved from Antarctica implicit the past century, lone 100 are this size oregon larger,” said Chicago’s Field Museum, which was portion of the expedition.

Researchers connected snowmobiles spent the amended portion of 2 weeks combing crystal fields successful hunt of meteorites erstwhile they made the stunning find conscionable arsenic they were astir to wrapper up their exploration, according to The Tribune.

The researchers observe their out-of-this-world find.Courtesy of Maria Valdes / SWNS

A close-up changeable of the uncommon abstraction rock.Courtesy of Maria Valdes / SWNS

Valdes said they were hesitant astir celebrating astatine archetypal “because we knew that if we recovered a meteorite, this was truly the parent lode. On the past day, the past hour.”

The squad became convinced it had so recovered a uncommon abstraction stone erstwhile members discovered it was “the size of a bowling shot but doubly the value of a bowling ball,” Valdes told the paper.

The stone had what Valdes described arsenic a “fusion crust” — a glassy outer furniture that somewhat melted erstwhile it entered the atmosphere. It was besides worn down, a motion it had been connected Earth for galore ages.

The meteorite was sent to The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences successful Belgium for chemic analysis.

“All meteorites person thing to accidental astir the improvement of Earth,” Valdes said. “Size doesn’t needfully substance erstwhile it comes to meteorites, and adjacent tiny micrometeorites tin beryllium incredibly scientifically valuable.”

Scientists from the US, Belgium and Switzerland spent 11 days combing the icy continent looking for abstraction rocks.Courtesy of Maria Valdes / SWNS

Most of the 45,000 meteorites recovered successful Antarctica implicit the past period person lone weighed a fewer grams, The Independent noted.

The find came months aft NASA successfully destroyed a 530-foot-wide asteroid in a trial tally to hole for the anticipation of a monolithic abstraction stone hurling toward and threating Earth, specified arsenic the 6.2 mile-wide asteroid that scientists judge wiped retired the dinosaurs millions of years ago.