“When it comes to meteorites, size doesn’t always matter, and even small micrometeorites can have amazing scientific value. However, discoveries of meteorites this large are rare, so it’s very exciting,” Field Museum said. says Maria Valdes, a research scientist at the University of Chicago.
Valdes estimates that it is among the 100 largest meteorites out of the 45,000 meteorites collected in Antarctica over the past century.
Meteorites are pieces of rock or metal that have fallen to Earth from outer space.
“Studying meteorites helps us better understand the existence of our planet in space. The more meteorite specimens we have, the more we can understand our solar system, and the more we can understand ourselves,” says Valdes.
Researchers who discovered a 7.6 kg meteorite. Maria Schoenbechler (white helmet). Maria Valdes (green helmet). Ryomasa Maeda (black helmet). Vinshen Debayification (orange helmet) (Maria Valdes)
The meteorite was one of five the researchers found in their search, all of which are now being analyzed at the Royal Belgian Museum of Natural History. A team of four scientists led by Vinshen Debay of the Free University of Brussels used the latest satellite imagery to look for possible locations where the meteorite fell.
“Exploring unknown places is an exciting experience, but we also had to face the fact that the reality on the ground was much more difficult than the beauty of satellite imagery,” Debay said. say. The team had to cross an ice field, and even in summer the temperature in Antarctica was -10 degrees Celsius.
Research team walking through Antarctic rock formations (Maria Valdes)
Antarctica is one of the best places in the world to look for meteorites, as it is barren and does not weather or erode the fallen meteorites. This black meteorite also stood out clearly among the white snow and blue glacier. Glaciers often roll up meteorites as they move.
With no people and no industrial development, Antarctica is less likely to be damaged by meteorites, but also less likely to be found.
Wishing for clear skies and big eyes.