SF News – A greenish looking rock found last year in Morocco, is believed to have come from earth’s neighboring planet in the solar system, Mercury, say Scientists who studied a collection of 35 meteorites.
If correct, the rock is the first piece of Mercury ever identified at the reach of scientists for examination and observation. The rock has a lower magnetic intensity than other rocks coming from outer space and closely matches that of the Mercury’s. Meteorites found on earth share the magnetic intensity of the planet they come from.
The rock also has a low iron content which also matches Mercury’s characteristic.
It is speculated that as the result of a huge asteroid impact on Mercury and the blast following it, the rock named ‘NWA 7325’ was thrown out of the planet surface into space. The rock probably circled the sun for millions of years before intersecting Earth’s orbit and finally falling down in Morocco.
The rock is estimated to be about 4.56 billion years old. It was among a collection of over 40 pieces that came down falling on Moroccan desert in 2012. The rock is the only one among the collection that is thought to have originated from Mercury, the closest planet to the sun in our solar system.
Being the only sample ever discovered, the green rock is unlike anything found on Earth before.
