Interesting space stuff but where should it be posted?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Two minerals never before been seen on Earth found inside 17-ton meteorite
By
Ben Turner
published about 18 hours ago
The minerals were found inside a slice of the El Ali meteorite, which landed in Somalia in 2020.
The 2.5-ounce slice which contains the two brand-new minerals. (Image credit: University of Alberta Meteorite Collection)
Two minerals that have never been seen before on Earth have been discovered inside a massive meteorite in Somalia. They could hold important clues to how asteroids form.
The two brand new minerals were found inside a single 2.5 ounce (70 gram) slice taken from the 16.5 ton (15 metric tons) El Ali meteorite, which was
found in 2020. Scientists named the minerals elaliite after the
meteor and elkinstantonite after
Lindy Elkins-Tanton (opens in new tab), the managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative and principal investigator of NASA's upcoming Psyche mission, which will send a probe to investigate the mineral-rich Psyche
asteroid for evidence of how our
solar system's planets formed.
"Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what's been found before,"
Chris Herd (opens in new tab), a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, said in a
statement (opens in new tab). "That's what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science."