In a groundbreaking scientific discovery, a rare meteorite found in the Sahara Desert offers compelling evidence of a lost world that might have been as large as the Moon. This meteorite, known as Northwest Africa 12774, provides new insights into the formation of planets in the early solar system.
The Meteorite: Guardian of Ancient Secrets
Discovered in 2019, the Northwest Africa 12774 meteorite is a space rock weighing about 454 grams. It is classified as an angrite, one of the oldest volcanic rocks in the solar system. Its unique chemical composition suggests that some early worlds in the solar system evolved differently from other rocky planets like Earth and Mars.
Researchers have noted that the materials forming the parent body of this meteorite are fundamentally different from those that formed Earth and Mars. This discovery offers new perspectives on how planets evolved in the early solar system.
The Mystery of Chemical Composition
Angrites are extremely rare, with only 68 known among more than 80,000 meteorites found on Earth. These meteorites lack silica, a major component of rocky planetary crusts, raising questions about their origin.
Angrite meteorites contain minimal amounts of silica, leading scientists to long believe they originated from a small asteroid. However, new analysis suggests the parent body might have been much larger than previously thought.
New Geochemical Evidence
By studying the mineral crystals in the Northwest Africa 12774 meteorite, scientists discovered these crystals contain significant amounts of aluminum, indicating they formed under immense pressures. Scientists estimated that the pressure at which these crystals formed exceeds 17.5 kilobars, more than 17 times the pressure at Earth’s deepest point, suggesting the parent body was much larger than a small asteroid.
This points to the lost world from which this meteorite originated being as large as the Moon, or even approaching the size of Mars.
Conclusion
The fate of this ancient world remains unknown, but it may have been destroyed in one of the violent collisions that shaped the early solar system, scattering its fragments into space and potentially merging with other planets, including Earth. This discovery opens the door for scientists to search for more evidence of these lost worlds that may yet be undiscovered.