Diamonds found in a meteorite that exploded over the Nubian desert in Sudan a decade ago were formed deep inside a “lost planet” that once circled the sun in the early solar system, scientists say.
Microscopic analyses of the meteorite’s tiny diamonds revealed they contain compounds that are produced under intense pressure, suggesting the diamonds formed far beneath the surface of a planet.
In this case, the mysterious world was calculated to be somewhere between Mercury and Mars in size.
Astronomers have long hypothesised that dozens of fledgling planets, ranging in size from the moon to Mars, formed in the first 10m years of the solar system and were broken apart and repackaged in violent collisions that ultimately created the terrestrial planets that orbit the sun today.
If the latest findings are confirmed, the Almahata Sitta meteorite will be the only known remnants of one of these long-lost planets. The material will give scientists a unique window into the cosmic conditions that prevailed in the deep history of the solar system.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
