Posted on 12/26/2020 11:02:02 AM PST by BenLurkin
The evidence for this mystery space rock comes from a diamond-studded meteor that exploded over Sudan in 2008.
NASA had spotted the 9-ton (8,200 kilograms), 13-foot (4 meters) meteor heading toward the planet well before impact, and researchers showed up in the Sudanese desert to collect an unusually rich haul of remains. Now, a new study of one of those meteorites suggests that the meteor may have broken off of a giant asteroid — one more or less the size of the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt.
The meteorite harbored an unusual suite of minerals that form at "intermediate" temperatures and pressures (higher than what you'd find in a typical asteroid, but lower than the inside of a planet). One mineral in particular, amphibole also requires prolonged exposure to water to develop.
Amphibole is common enough on Earth, but it's only appeared once before in trace amounts in a meteorite known as Allende — the largest carbonaceous chondrite ever found, which fell in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1969
The high amphibole content of AhS suggests the fragment broke off a parent asteroid that's never left meteorites on Earth before.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Death Star.
Well as long as it is only lurking..........
My dad had asteroids once...
The high amphibole content of AhS suggests the fragment broke off a parent asteroid that’s never left meteorites on Earth before.
That have been found by someone capable of testing for AhS. Just a “minor” qualification.
Hubris, hubris, hubris.
But please, if not for covid, mask up for the asteroid because surely these relatively larger masses will not be able penetrate our masks if ALL of us were them 100% of the time.
Having watched The Expanse - Season 4 - Episodes 1,2,3, & 4, we knew this already...
I had one once, a big one. Witch Hazel dabbed on made it disappear overnight. Phew!
;^)
Yeah, I adopted a Polar Bear at the zoo, he used to sit on the ice too long and developed Polaroids.
a four meter wide meteor is hardly a “dwarf planet”
The addition of a styrofoam bicycle helmet would help also.
We had an Astro van way back. What a piece of ...
About the size of Ceres
Just be glad that it wasn’t an Aerostar...
Haven’t read the full article yet, only the excerpt. What’s the name of the asteroid?
I will freak out if it’s named Wormwood.
i must have misread the article then, thanks for the update.
Ceres is 940km diameter, pretty darned big
but either way, I would not wish to be hit on the head by either space rock, HA! I am reputed to be hard headed but either space rock would at least hurt I am sure
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