2024-01-28 23:59:00
Meteorite discovered in Taklimakan Desert, Shanghai Planetarium deciphers its “identity”
The reporter learned from the Shanghai Planetarium that a batch of meteorites was discovered in the southern part of the Taklimakan Desert in December last year. Recently, after testing by the Shanghai Planetarium Meteorite Laboratory, the “identity” of these meteorites has been cracked – the scientific research team initially identified them as Vesta’s “Calcium Everlasting Glow” Long achondrite (Eucrite)”. This is the sixth achondrite meteorite discovered in China. Currently, the laboratory is supplementing quantitative analysis data to obtain more accurate and comprehensive scientific conclusions.
The Vesta meteorite is about 4.5 billion years old
Meteorites are a focus of the Shanghai Planetarium’s exhibition. In the “Home” exhibition area, visitors can see more than 70 meteorite specimens. Lin Qing, director of the Shanghai Planetarium Astronomy Research Center, said that meteorites are solid natural objects that remain after meteoroids pass through the atmosphere from interplanetary space and fall to the surface of planets, satellites or asteroids. Most of their parent bodies are more than 4.5 billion years old. They have been in space for a long time, their original structures have not been destroyed, and they have well preserved information from the beginning of the formation of the solar system. By studying minerals such as silicate chondrules and calcium-aluminum inclusions in meteorites, scientists can unearth the secrets of the formation and evolution of the solar system.
The Shanghai Planetarium not only has a large collection of meteorites, but also has the ability to study meteorites. In October last year, the museum’s large-scale meteorite laboratory instrument was accepted and put into operation, and it has the capabilities from meteorite sample preparation to laboratory analysis. The meteorite laboratory has established a scientific research and consulting team to conduct research on meteorite samples submitted for inspection by industry insiders. However, the laboratory also stated that they do not yet have the ability to conduct meteorite identification for the public.
As a consultant to the Shanghai Planetarium Meteorite Laboratory, Zhang Bo, founder of Wuyunfang Meteorite Studio and director of the Shanghai Astronomical Society, received the news of “meteorite discovery in the southern part of the Taklimakan Desert” in December last year: On December 10 last year, in the southern part of the Taklimakan Desert, On National Highway 315 near Minfeng County, 13 kilometers away from Yuhu Lake in Minfeng County, Hotan, local Anivar Rouzi discovered several black stones. The peculiar appearance made people feel that these were not ordinary stones, but meteorites. After seeing the photo, Zhang Bo immediately made a judgment: This might be Eucrite.
According to reports, Eucrite, Howardite (bronze calcium achondrite) and Diogenite (bronze achondrite) are collectively called “HED meteorites”. They all come from Vesta, the brightest asteroid in the earth’s night sky. Achondrites. This type of meteorite is a stony meteorite crystallized from magma and does not contain chondrites, accounting for about 4% of known meteorites. Radioactive isotope measurements show that the Vesta “HED meteorite” is about 4.43 billion to 4.55 billion years old, recording the planetary geological movement in the early solar system.
Analysis confirmed to be an achondrite meteorite
After making a visual judgment, Zhang Bo asked the locals to send meteorite samples for scientific testing. After receiving the dull white sample at the end of last year, he immediately sent it to the Shanghai Planetarium Meteorite Laboratory. Taking photos, weighing, grinding, sample preparation, and putting it on the machine… Researchers Li Shaolin, Du Zhimao, and Shan Xingmei used scanning electron microscopes to obtain preliminary analysis data for this sample.
Laboratory analysis shows that the sample has a monoclastic breccia structure and contains basaltic minerals. Feldspar is highly calcium-rich and pyroxene has exsolution bands. Its rock structure and mineral composition are highly similar to Vesta meteorites. The analyzed data were jointly confirmed by researcher Xu Weibiao, a member of the expert committee of the Shanghai Planetarium Astronomy Research Center, and a preliminary conclusion was drawn: This is the first achondrite meteorite discovered in the southern part of the Taklimakan Desert.
After the meteorites appeared in the Taklimakan Desert, many people went to the area to “treasure hunt” and found a large number of fragments suspected of being meteorites. The scientific research team of the Shanghai Planetarium estimates that the total amount of meteorites discovered this time exceeds 40 kilograms, with the largest one weighing 2.5 kilograms. The international meteorite database shows that a total of 5 achondrite meteorites have been previously discovered in China. The first one discovered was the 2016 meteorite witnessed – the Shaanxi Mazichuan Diogenite Vesta meteorite.
“It is usually easier to find meteorites in deserts, but because Taklimakan is a mobile desert and the natural conditions are harsh, it is rare to find meteorites there.” said Du Zhimao, director of the Collection and Research Office of the Astronomical Research Center of the Shanghai Planetarium.
The Taklimakan Desert is the largest desert in China and the second largest mobile desert in the world. In recent years, many meteorites have been discovered in Lop Nur, Loulan and other places east of Taklimakan, but this is the first time that a meteorite has been found in the southern part of this desert. Zhang Bo said that judging from the weathering conditions, it did not take long for the meteorite to reach the earth. It may have fallen within the past year and exploded during the fall. (Reporter Yu Taoran)
(Editors: Yan Yuan, Xuan Zhaoqiang)
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