On a gold prospecting trip.. he thought it was a rock, so the surprise was more valuable
About seven years ago, on a prospecting trip in Maryborough Provincial Park near Melbourne, David Hall discovered a heavy, reddish rock lodged in the ground.
Hall took the rock home and tried everything to break it open, using a rock saw, a drill, and even immersing it in acid , yet he couldn't crack it.
Years later, Hall discovered that the rock was a rare meteorite .
Melbourne Museum geologist Dermot Henry said: "I've looked at a lot of rocks that people think are meteorites . In fact, after 37 years of working in the museum and examining thousands of rocks, it turns out that only two of the exhibits are real meteorites."
The researchers published a scientific paper describing the 4.6-billion-year-old meteorite , which they named Maryborough after the nearby town where it was found.
According to the "Science Alert" website, the meteorite weighs 17 kilograms, and after using a diamond saw to cut a small slice, the researchers discovered that its composition contains a high percentage of iron .
" Meteorites provide the cheapest form of space exploration," Henry explained. " They transport us back in time, providing clues to the age, formation and chemistry of our solar system, including Earth."
Although researchers do not yet know where the meteorite came from and how long it has been on Earth, they have some guesses.
About that, Henry said: "This particular meteorite most likely came from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it was pushed out by some asteroids that collided with each other, and then one day collided with the Earth."
According to the researchers, the Maryborough meteorite is much rarer than gold , which makes it much more valuable to science, as it is one of only 17 meteorites ever recorded in the Australian state of Victoria.
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