US EditionResearchers may have solved mystery of Mercury’s missing meteorites, but doubts remain
SAHARA DESERT, JUL 14 – Scientists study two 4.5-billion-year-old Sahara meteorites that may be Mercury fragments, potentially the first samples from the planet, with about 10 expected to exist, researchers say.
- Researchers found two meteorites named Northwest Africa 15915 and Ksar Ghilane 022 in the Sahara Desert in 2023, suspected to be from Mercury.
- Scientists suspect these meteorites could be from Mercury because their chemistry matches the planet, but their formation dates 500 million years earlier than Mercury's surface raise doubts.
- Analysis shows the samples contain olivine and pyroxene with no iron, consistent with NASA's MESSENGER findings about Mercury's crust composition.
- Ben Rider-Stokes said, "Nobody confidently has a meteorite of Mercury," and dynamical models suggest about 10 Mercury meteorites should exist, while confirmation would advance understanding of Mercury.
- The incoming BepiColombo probe, set to orbit Mercury in late 2026, may help resolve the meteorites' origin and improve knowledge of Mercury's geology and formation.
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32 Articles
32 Articles
Researchers study Sahara meteorites for possible Mercury origin
Researchers suspect that two meteorites found in the Sahara Desert in 2023 may originally have come from Mercury, which would make them the first identified fragments of the solar system’s innermost planet.
·Boston, United States
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Two meteorites found in the Sahara could be from the solar system’s least studied planet, scientists say
Two meteorites found in the Sahara in 2023 might be from Mercury, a study suggests, but doubts remain due to how little is known about the planet closest to the sun.
·Atlanta, United States
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Historical in space research: Meteorites, which may have escaped the gravity of the sun, found in Sahara Desert
Scientists believe that two meteorites in the Sahara desert came from Mercury in 2023, the nearest planet to the sun. If confirmed, this would be the first meteorites to have ever found Mercury. Mercury is difficult to study because it is very close to the sun. Only two spacecraft, Mariner 10 and Messenger, have visited […]
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