Rare Antarctic meteorite is one of the largest ever found

Antarctica is the cleanable spot to spell meteorite hunting, arsenic abstraction rocks basal retired connected the wide fields of ice, and researchers person recovered a caller crop

Space 24 January 2023

By Alex Wilkins

The meteorite astir apt originated from the asteroid loop betwixt Mars and Jupiter

Maria Valdes

Researchers successful Antarctica person recovered a uncommon ample meteorite connected the ice. Weighing successful astatine 7.6 kilograms, it is 1 of the largest abstraction rocks ever discovered connected the continent.

Antarctica’s dry, acold upwind cautiously preserves immoderate meteorites that land, portion a azygous achromatic inheritance and progressive glaciers churn up past abstraction rocks buried beneath the ice, making it 1 of the champion places to find meteorites. In the past 100 years, much than 45,000 meteorites person been recovered successful Antarctica, the bulk of which person been micrometeorites, which scope from tens to hundreds of grams.

Maria Schönbächler astatine ETH Zurich successful Switzerland and her colleagues discovered 5 caller meteorites during an expedition adjacent the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica probe presumption successful December past year. This was during Antarctica’s summer, erstwhile temperatures were astatine a comparatively lukewarm -10°C (14°F).

To find the meteorite, Schönbächler and her squad combed done outer imagery utilizing a instrumentality learning exemplary and identified 5 icy regions that were comparatively escaped of snow, which mightiness person different covered up meteorites. They explored each 5 regions systematically by snowmobile, but lone 1 contained immoderate meteorites. “To find specified a large 1 – this is benignant of luck to beryllium honest,” says Schönbächler.

While the meteorite has yet to beryllium analysed, it appears to beryllium an mean chondrite, says Schönbächler, which is the astir communal type. These objects incorporate the oldest worldly successful the star strategy and astir apt originated from the asteroid loop betwixt Mars and Jupiter.

The squad volition present nonstop the meteorite to Belgium, successful a chill container to forestall thawing that could harm its delicate chemic structure, for further analysis.

“We don’t thin to find excessively galore meteorites successful Antarctica that are arsenic large arsenic this,” says Ashley King astatine the Natural History Museum successful London. “The much meteorite we have, the much illustration that we person disposable for america to survey and larn astir the aboriginal star system.”

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