"Rare Meteorite Impact: Berlin's Unusual Encounter with Space Rock"

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Source: IFLScience
"Rare Meteorite Impact: Berlin's Unusual Encounter with Space Rock"
Photo: IFLScience
TL;DR Summary

The space rock that exploded over Germany in January 2024 has been identified as a very rare type of meteorite known as an aubrite, making it one of only 87 known samples of this type globally. The walnut-sized meteorite was recovered from a field in Ribbeck, Germany, and its analysis suggests that it is in the rare group of achondrites known as aubrites. These meteorites look very different from others, being light-colored and containing hardly any iron. The peculiar mineralogical structures seen in aubrites suggest that their parent body must have had a violent history, with hypotheses ranging from belonging to E-type asteroids in the inner Asteroid Belt to being pieces of another planet like Mercury.

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