'size of a gourd' rock containing material billions of years old discovered in Antarctica

An extremely rare meteorite that contains some of oldest material in solar system, has been found by scientists in Antarctica.

What is said to be  'size of a gourd,'   17-pound meteorite was discovered on Janurary 5 by an international team at end of an 11-day expedition.

“When we saw this one just sitting by itself in middle of blue ice, we all got so excited,” Chicago Field Museum researcher Maria Valdes told Chicago Tribune.

extraordinary rock is said to be one of largest found in continent, containing material from billions of years ago and is likely to be originated from  Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter,  Independent reported.

Only 100 meteorites this big or larger have been recovered from Antarctica in past century, according to Chicago's Field Museum, which participated in trip. This puts meteorite's magnitude into context.

According to Tribune, researchers on swmobiles had been scouring ice fields for meteorites for more than two weeks when y discovered astounding discovery right before y were ready to call it a day.

Since y were aware that ir discovery was mor lode if a meteorite had been discovered, Valdes claimed y were initially hesitant to celebrate. final hour of last day.

When team members saw object was " size of a bowling ball but twice weight of a bowling ball," Valdes told newspaper, y became certain y had discovered a rare rock.

rock had a glassy exterior layer that somewhat melted as it hit atmosphere, which Valdes referred to as having a "fusion crust." It had been on Earth for a very long time because of how worn down it was.

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Belgium received meteorite for chemical investigation.

According to Valdes, "all meteorites have something to tell about development of Earth." When it comes to meteorites, size doesn't always matter, and even small micrometeorites may be immensely useful for science.

majority of 45,000 meteorites discovered in Antarctica during previous century, according to Independent, only weighted a few grams.

discovery came after NASA successfully destroyed a 530-foot-wide asteroid in a test run months earlier to get ready for possibility of a sizable rock hurtling toward and endangering Earth, like 6.2-mile-wide asteroid that researchers think wiped out disaurs millions of years ago.