Unique and tinycarboncrystalswith various unusual shapes have been found in space rock dust. It exploded inRussiaalmost 10 years ago.
Exploding space rock (known as Super Boride) was the largest meteoroid ever to explode on Earth in the 21st century, falling in the Southern Urals on February 15, 2013. ..
It exploded about 23km above the city ofChelyabinsk–about 1,440km east of Moscow– a large population as more than 1,000 were injured. Raised concernsand 3,000 buildings were damaged.
Space experts have called this event agiant awakening call to the dangers ofasteroidsand other space rocks to the planet.
However, this event also generated great scientific interest because it brought unique materials from space that could not be reproduced even in advanced laboratories.
The collapse of the fireball in the atmosphere when invading the planet is accompanied by the formation of a gas dust plume at an altitude of about 80-27 km, which subsequently settled on Earth, as detected by several satellites. I did.
Scientists have recently discovered micrometer-sizedcarboncrystallites in the dust of Chelyabinsk, and recentlyJournalEPJ Plus{36. According to a new study published in }. He pointed out that the
crystalshave a variety of unusual shapes, such as closed, almost spherical shells and hexagonal rods.
"We focused on the unique morphological features of carbon crystals from the dust component of meteoroids," said a scientist at South Ural State University inRussia. Scientists including said.
"The first carbon crystals were discovered during a light microscope survey of dust because the facets happened to be in the focal plane," they added.
Researchers have also found several other similar microscopic debris in meteorite dust.
Further testing with other chemical analyses and X-rays reveals that the carbon crystal is made up of a layer of exotically shaped graphite that surrounds the central nanocluster in its center. became.
The most probable candidates for these nanoclusters are buckminsterfullerene (C60), a cage-like ball of 60 carbon atoms, or polyhexacyclooctadecane (C18H12), carbon andScientists suspect that it is a molecule made from hydrogen.
The microstructure may have been formed by the repeated addition of graphene layers to the closed carbon nuclei created by the extreme temperature and pressure conditions when the meteor collapsed.
In future studies, researchers will track and analyze other meteorite dust samples, whether these exotic crystals are generally formed by meteorite collapse or are unique to the Chelyabinsk fireball. I want to understand if there is.
