An amateur treasure hunter Australia lived an unexpected story after finding a unusually heavy rock which, at first glance, he believed to contain oro. For years he tried to open it without success, convinced that he had a valuable nugget in his hands. What I didn’t know was that that rock came from space.
As reported ScienceAlertthe object turned out to be a extremely rare and ancient meteoritewhose origen goes back to the first moments of formation of the Solar System.
The discovery that began as a search for gold
According to ScienceAlertthe protagonist of the case, David Holewas exploring the Maryborough Regional Parkan area known for its history linked to the gold rush, when his metal detector marked a strong signal on a reddish clay-covered rock. Its weight and density led him to think that he had found a valuable piece.
Hole carried the rock home to try to open it. Tried cut it, pierce it and even attack her with acidbut none of the methods worked. The object was so hard that all tools failed. After several years of frustrated attempts, he decided to take her to the Melbourne Museum for specialists to analyze it.
A meteorite more valuable than gold
Upon examining the rock, the researchers determined that it was a meteorite of approximately 17 kiloslater identified as the Maryborough meteorite. According to ScienceAlertscientists classified it as a conndrita H5a type of meteorite formed ago 4.6 billion yearsduring the birth of the Solar System.
The experts explained that their outer structure, marked by dimples and a texturemelted“, coincides with the deformations that present the space rocks passing through the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed.
Furthermore, subsequent analyzes suggest that the meteorite could have fallen in the region between 100 and 1,000 years agoalthough its probable origin is in the asteroid belt located between Marte y Jupiter.
A scientific discovery of high value
Beyond the initial surprise, the discovery represented a unique opportunity for scientists. According to ScienceAlertmeteorites of this type contain chemical and mineral information which helps to understand how formed the first planetary bodies and what the conditions of space were billions of years ago.
In the words of the experts cited by the media, the meteorite rarity makes it “much more valuable than gold”, not because of its price, but because of the information it provides to astronomical research.
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