Kosta says researchers narrowed down the possible origin sites by studying the meteorite's minerals and size. He helped analyze all the data to identify where Black Beauty originated from. Kosta Servis is a senior data scientist for Pawsey Supercomputing Center. They analyzed over 90 million meteorite impact craters. In this way, it can shed light on the age of a planet.Ī team of researchers from WA and France studied images of Mars to find Black Beauty's home. They use the ratio of the original chemical and the decayed chemical to calculate how long ago the zircon crystallized. These are chemicals that break down into more stable forms and emit radiation.īecause these chemicals decay at a predictable rate, researchers can use them like a clock. All this magma caused zircon to deposit on the surface of Mars as it cooled. In the earliest days of a planet's creation, magma spews across the still-forming surface. Zircon forms when magma crystallizes, meaning astronomers can use it to work out how old planets are. Scientists used the tiny crystals to corroborate how Mars is thought to have formed. The meteorite contained 23 grains of zircon. It was also nicknamed Black Beauty because of its color. When scientists discovered it in 2011, they named it NWA 7034. Using one of WA's most powerful supercomputers, astronomers have now uncovered the meteorite's life story.Īround 5–10 million years ago, a meteorite containing zircon crashed into Africa.
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