In 2020, the Erg Chech 002 meteorite It landed on Earth and was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. Now, it is providing valuable information about the composition of the nebula that gave rise to our planet. Solar system.
Meticulous analysis of the celestial body revealed the presence of isotopes of radioactive material from stars that exploded in the vicinity of our Sun.
see more
How did the Nastapoka Arc come about? Discover the most accepted hypotheses by…
Restaurant starts charging fees to parents of children who 'scream…
Such an intriguing discovery suggests that meteorites may act as cosmic time capsules, preserving the ancient history of our Solar System.
The formation of the Solar System was a complex process that began with a vast cloud of gas and dust. Although we have extensive knowledge about the event, there is still room for new discoveries.
The densest part of this nebula eventually collapsed, giving rise to our star, the Sun, which, in turn, began to attract and consume the surrounding matter. The remaining residues gave rise to the planets we know today.
Although the composition of the nebula Although the original structure was fundamental in the structuring of our system, the passage of more than 4 billion years and countless chemical processes have greatly altered the objects contained within it.
However, meteorites and asteroids, as they remain relatively unchanged over time, are scientific treasures capable of providing valuable clues about the initial conditions of our System Solar.
The Erg Chech 002 meteorite, dated as older than the Earth itself, has a fiery composition that indicates its likely origin on a planet that, at some distant point, was destroyed.
Additionally, the analysis revealed the presence of magnesium-26, a byproduct of the radioactive isotope aluminum-26, which forms during supernova explosions.
Although aluminum-26 has an extremely short half-life of just 717,000 years, scientists were able to determine the age of the meteorite by analyzing the proportions of the decay products radioactive.
(Image: Yuri Amelin/Reproduction)
To everyone's surprise, Erg Chech 002 has an estimated age of 4.566 billion years, consistent with previous analyses.
Comparing it to other well-preserved meteorites with similar rock compositions, the Researchers noticed that Erg Chech 002 contained a significantly higher amount of aluminum-26 than the others.
This suggests that this radioactive isotope was probably not evenly distributed throughout the nebula. original and may have arrived later in the Solar System, along with other materials originating in different stars.
With this, we have a new view of how our Solar System was created, which helps to understand the origin of life as we know it today!
