The researchers with their 16.7-pound find. White helmet: Maria Schönbächler. Green helmet: Maria Valdes. Black helmet: Ryoga Maeda. Orange helmet: Vinciane Debaille. Photo courtesy of Maria Valdes.
In Antarctica, a sizable meteorite that contains some of the solar system's oldest components was found. One of the largest rocks ever found has been found, and it will aid research into how the sun and planets formed.According to Maria Valdes, a research scientist at the Field Museum and the University of Chicago, "Size doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to meteorites, and even tiny micrometeorites can be incredibly scientifically valuable. However, finding a big meteorite like this one is rare, and really exciting. "Researching meteorites helps us comprehend our place in the cosmos better. We can comprehend our Solar System and ourselves better—and have a larger sample size of meteorites—if we have them."The massive space rock resembles a typical chondrite, the most prevalent kind of meteor. These objects, which likely came from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, contain the oldest material in the solar system. To avoid thawing, which would harm the meteorite's delicate chemical composition, it is being maintained in a refrigerated box. It is being sent to a facility in Belgium for additional examination by researchers. Dr. Ashley King from the Natural History Museum in London said, "We don't tend to find too many meteorites in Antarctica that are as huge as this."
Only about 100 of the more than 45,000 meteorites that have been discovered on the continent over the past century have been this large. The majority are small meteorites, weighing between tens and hundreds of grams. To get to promising landing sites that had been previously mapped using satellite images, expedition members used snowmobiles. Near the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station, they found five new specimens. A computer neural network helped uncover several areas that were comparatively free of snow, which would have otherwise been hidden. The meteorites were in one.
