Rare Diamonds Dating Back to 4.5 Billion Years Found Inside Meteorite That Crashed on Earth Ten Years Ago

A meteorite which crashed to Earth a decade ago has now been discovered to be part of the early solar system. The Almahata Sitta comes from a mysterious embryonic planet which once circled the sun 4.5 billion years ago. The celestial body that was larger than Mercury was destroyed in a cosmic collision. The diamonds are said to be evidence of the early worlds. The Almahitta Sitta is named after the location in Sudan above which the space rock exploded in 2008.

The crashing of the meteorite was witnessed by many in the town of Wadi Halfa and at a railway stop in the Nubian desert, known as 'Station Six'. Reportedly people had seen a 'rocket-like fireball' in the sky. Nearly 50 fragments of the 83-tonne asteroid were collected from the desert in where it fell in northern Sudan.

The rare diamonds also give scientists a peek into the formation of planets. It is an extremely rare type of meteorite and has tiny crystals in them, which means it would have taken great pressure to form. The parent planetary body is believed to have been formed in an impact during the first 10 million years of the solar system, according to the analysis published in Nature Communications.

Lead researcher Dr Farhang Nabiei from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne said, "Here we studied a section of the Almahata Sitta ureilite using transmission electron microscopy, where large diamonds were formed at high pressure inside the parent body. We discovered chromite, phosphate, and (Fe,Ni)-sulfide inclusions embedded in diamond.

Dr Nabiei continued saying, "Although this is the first compelling evidence for such a large body that has since disappeared, their existence in the early solar system has been predicted by planetary formation models. This study provides convincing evidence the ureilite parent body was one such large 'lost' planet before it was destroyed by collisions."

The study showed the diamonds must have formed at pressures above 20 gigapascals. The researcher said that the meteorites are the last remaining remnants of this lost planet. According to astronomers, gas, dust, and rock about the size of Mercury or Mars swirled around the sun. Eventually, these objects collided with the remnants being the eight planets we see today.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2018 09:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).