Scientists have uncovered a giant meteorite – one of the largest ever found on Earth – in Argentina over the weekend, local media reported.
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Explorers made the discovery on Saturday while scouring an area called Campo del Cielo [Field of the skies], which astronomers say was hit by a meteor shower some 4,000 years ago.
The Gancedo meteorite will still be re-weighed and analyzed to confirm that it is, in fact, a meteorite.
It’s thought to have slammed into Earth some 80,000 years ago, and its age has been estimated to be between 190 million and 410 million years. Hopefully, Gancedo will prove too large to steal and find its fitting place in meteorite science and history.
Of course, neither rock comes close to surpassing the mammoth Hoba meteorite discovered in Namibia for largest meteorite ever discovered. Since the 19th century, scientists have flocked to the area, uncovering fragments as small as a few milligrams to some the size of a washing machine. About 100 tons of space debris has been extracted from the field. “Although we expected it to be heavier, we did not expect it to exceed 30 tons”, Vesconi said, according to ScienceAlert.
The president of Astronomical Association officially said that 30-ton meteorite unearthed in Argentina this week. It has never been moved, but is a popular tourist destination, visited by thousands each year.
This huge piece of boulder has been named “Gancedo meteorite”.
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Even if the rock is confirmed as a meteorite and does measure in at over 30 tonnes though, that still wouldn’t make it the world’s second biggest. Extraterrestrial meteorites are such objects that have impacted other celestial bodies, whether or not they have passed through an atmosphere.
