Suara.com – Meteorite Mars the largest that ever fell to Earth on display for public the first time. The piece of Mars weighs 14.5 kg and measures 25 cm at its widest point.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Wednesday (1/9/2021) at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, Bethel, United States of America which holds about 6,000 space rocks, including the largest portion of lunar rock and the oldest igneous rock in the solar system.
The clump of rock ends up on Earth after a large asteroid or comet blasts it off the surface of Mars.
“Mars rocks can fall to Earth as meteorites. They were ejected from Mars by a large and energetic impact event,” said Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico. Live Science on Friday (3/9/2021).
The Martian rock, dubbed Taoudenni 002, is the largest intact Martian meteorite that has never been cut on Earth.
Currently, there are about 300 pieces of Martian rock on Earth with a total weight of 227 kg. However, collectors often cut them up to resell them separately, so the actual number of known Martian meteorites on Earth is only between 100-150 stones.
Taoudenni 002 was originally discovered by a local meteor hunter near a desert salt mine in Mali. The stone was purchased by prominent meteorite trader Darryl Pitt for the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in April 2021.
After purchasing it, Pitt sent a small sample of the stone to Agee to confirm its origin.
According to Agee, Martian meteorites have certain chemical and mineral signatures. The elements found at Taoudenni 002 closely match known Martian minerals.
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“This is shergottite, which is the main type of Martian meteorite. This rock contains the minerals olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar that formed from the impact of Mars during the collision,” added Agee.
The composition of the meteorite also hints at how the rock was formed. It is likely that Taoudenni 002 formed in a volcanic episode on Mars more than 100 million years ago.
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