A Meteor That Made A Round Trip From And To The Earth

 

DISCOVERIES

The Prodigal Stone

Scientists are working to confirm whether a small meteorite discovered in the Sahara Desert originated from Earth before being flung into space – and later returning to the planet, Science Alert reported.

First found in Morocco in 2018, the space rock – known as NWA 13188, NWA meaning “Northwest Africa” – could be the first known meteorite to have made such a cosmic roundtrip.

In their findings, a research team explained that the 23-ounce meteorite had a similar chemical makeup to the kind of rocks formed from the molten minerals produced by volcanoes near sinking oceanic plates.

What distinguishes NWA 13188 from Earth rocks is the small concentrations of Helium-3, Beryllium-10, and Neon-21, which means it was exposed to radiation from outer space.

The team noted that these concentrations are lower than those recorded on other meteorites, but higher than seen on other rocks from Earth. They added that the low amounts could be explained by the short period NWA 13188 spent in space – possibly in the low tens of thousands of years.

But the main question that researchers are asking is how did the rock leave the planet in the first place.

They suggest that it could have been ejected during a very powerful volcanic eruption or thrown into space when another meteorite smashed into Earth.

While other scientists are still skeptical of the findings, rocks leaving their home planets is not a new occurrence.

Meteorites originating from Mars have been discovered in the Sahara: One of them has been named “Black Beauty” and is estimated to be 4.4 billion years old.

It was later sold to a private collection in 2011 and the 320-gram (11.3 ounces) rock is now valued at over US$10,000 per gram.