You ’re looking at a once - in - a - life scientific discovery . Ateam of expertsannounced today that these fragment of space stone , observe last calendar month near Foumzgit , Morocco , are in fact meteorites from Mars .
Martian meteorites are incredibly rare ; drive together , all the Mars rocks on Earth add together up to less than 240 pounds . But rarer still are meteorite recovered soon after they arrived on Earth . And that ’s what makes this find even more exciting — these specimens are fresh .
The hunks of Martian rock that you see here are just two pieces [ hi - re images of each availablehereandhere ] from some 15 pounds of rock that a committee of experts — headed up by University of Alberta meteorite expertChris Herd — believe fell to Earth during a meteorite shower bath last July . The last metre scientists chemically corroborate the arrival of refreshful Martian rock on Earth was in 1962 . Before that ? 1911 , 1865 , and 1815 . In other words , this type of discovery is exceedingly rare .
impudent Martian sampling are considered specially valuable because they ’ve experienced less exposure to Earthly pollution . Recently arrived shooting star are easier to free of this contamination , and are therefore considered more precious from a scientific stand . Remember in 1996 , when scientists call up they ’d found traces of lifetime in a Martian meteorite that was found buried in Antarctica in 1984 ? Later investigations concluded there was not enough evidence to put up the call . If like evidence is found in the 15 pounds of meteorite break last month , we could be looking at a completely different story .
“ It ’s scientifically invaluable , ” Herd told the Associated Press . “ These are really beautiful specimens . It ’s a rarified character , so fresh and esthetically pleasing . ”
Carl Agee , director of the Institute of Meteoritics and curator at the University of New Mexico , echoed Herd ’s sentiments . “ It ’s incredibly fresh . It ’s extremely worthful for that reason … For someone who knows their Martian , this is a knockout . It ’s gorgeous . ”
Via theAssociated Press . Photos by Darryl Pitt via AP
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