Scientists have just revealed that a meteor that fell to Earth ten years ago holds the secrets of a lost planet.
Experts say the planet was formed in the early solar system, just a few million years after the sun was formed. This planet then circled the sun around 4.5 billion years ago.
The Almahata Sitta meteorite is named after the area of Sudan where it hit the ground in 2008, and scientists found that it contained microscopic diamonds that said a lot about the planet it came from. Experts found that the planet the meteor came from was a little bit larger than Mercury and was destroyed in a cosmic collision.
The lost planet and others just like it smashed into each other and former the planets that are around today.
“There are over 480 meteorites that are classified as ureilites. There are many meteorites coming from Mars or the moon. However, this specific proto-planet has been destroyed in the early solar system and that is unique so far,” said lead researcher Dr. Farhang Nabiei from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. “Planetary formation simulations suggest that they were tens of planetary embryos in the size range between that of moon and that of Mars in the early solar system.”
“Planetary formation models show terrestrial planets are formed by the accretion of tens of Moon- to Mars-sized planetary embryos through energetic giant impacts. However, relics of these large proto-planets are yet to be found,” he continued. “We discovered chromite, phosphate, and sulfide inclusions embedded in the diamond. The composition and morphology of the inclusions can only be explained if the formation pressure was higher than 20 gigapascals. Such pressures suggest that the ureilite parent body was a Mercury- to Mars-sized planetary embryo.”
Nabiei went on to talk about the possibility of other lost planets.
“Although this is the first compelling evidence for such a large body that has since disappeared, their existence in the early solar system has been predicted by planetary formation models,” he said. “This study provides convincing evidence the ureilite parent body was one such large ‘lost’ planet before it was destroyed by collisions.”
Find out more about this meteor in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw7gVDTO0ts
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