Australian Miner’s ‘Unbreakable’ Rock turns Out to Be 4.6 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite
MARYBOROUGH,AUSTRALIA – A rock that stubbornly resisted a man’s years-long attempts to crack it open has revealed itself to be an remarkably rare meteorite,offering scientists a glimpse into the earliest days of the solar system. The finding, made near Maryborough, Victoria, has ignited excitement within the scientific community, as the meteorite preserves a record of cosmic events spanning 4.6 billion years.
The stone initially captivated prospector George Hole, who believed it contained gold. Despite relentless efforts using a diamond saw and other tools, he was unable to break it open. Eventually,scientists from Museum Victoria took on the challenge,carefully extracting a fragment for analysis. The results confirmed it was an H5 chondrite meteorite – a type composed of crystallized droplets called chondrules formed during a period of intense heating in the early solar system’s dust clouds.
“Thinking about all the events that the rock experienced before reaching our hands – collisions, displacements, transformations and millions of years of cosmic history – is simply amazing,” saeid Bill Birch, lead author of the meteorite study. “Being able to study it today is, for him, a privilege.”
Experts believe the meteorite originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, surviving countless collisions and a long journey before landing in Australia. Museum Victoria notes that only a small percentage of rocks submitted for identification are confirmed as genuine meteorites, making this find particularly significant.
The meteorite’s value, though, extends far beyond any potential monetary worth. It represents a tangible link to the formation of our solar system, offering invaluable insights into its early composition and evolution. As Hole discovered, sometimes the most extraordinary treasures aren’t those that glitter, but those that hold the secrets of the universe.
[Fuente: Infobae]
