Never before Seen in Nature: Mineral Found inside a Million-Year-Old Meteorite

RELATED: LOCATION OF AN ANCIENT ONE KILOMETER-WIDE METEORITE FOUND IN SCOTLAND

A mineral is an assortment of atoms set into a specific form, and naturally occurring in nature. For example, salt and diamonds are both minerals, one is made of sodium chloride, and the other is made of pure carbon.

What did the researchers find here?

Inside the Wedderburn meteorite, the researchers discovered a new mineral. Microscopically, it appears as small white crystals.

This mineral is a combination of carbon and iron atoms, set together in a particular pattern. "This meteorite had an abundance of carbon in it. And as it slowly cooled down, the iron and carbon came together and formed this mineral," said Dr. Stuart Mills, Museums Victoria's senior curator of geosciences.

What is new about 'edscottite'?

A synthetic edscottite has, in fact, been discovered previously - typically found inside smelters. It is a phase that iron goes through while it is smelted into steel. 

The difference here is that edscottite has never been known or discovered to be naturally occurring in nature. Only when minerals are found in nature can they be named.

This is what makes this discovery so exciting. As Dr. Mills pointed out, "We have discovered 500,000 to 600,000 minerals in the lab, but fewer than 6,000 that nature’s done itself."

“Scientists have discovered a new mineral, one never before seen in nature, lodged inside a meteorite found near Wedderburn in central Victoria.

Edscottite! https://t.co/j8tt9xqRDn

— Belinda Barnet (@manjusrii) August 31, 2019

Wedderburn meteorite's story

Many scientists have claimed chunks of it over the years in the name of research, and only one-third of the meteorite is still left. Let's see if any more interesting discoveries can be made from the Wedderburn Meteorite.

The meteorite is believed to have emanated from an old planet, which no longer exists. As it blew apart, meteorites from its core got thrust out into space.

The Wedderburn meteorite was one such chunk from the blasted planet. It was circling up in space for millions of years, before colliding on Earth, and into the Australian territory.

The findings were published in the journal, American Mineralogist.