The first-ever evidence of a catastrophic comet striking Earth millions of years ago is in our hands.
"Comets always visit our skies - they're these dirty snowballs of ice mixed with dust - but never before in history has material from a comet ever been found on Earth," Professor David Block of Wits University, said in a news release.
The comet is believed to have barreled into Earth's atmosphere above Egypt about 28 million years ago. When it exploded it heated the sand below to about 3632 degrees Fahrenheit, which turned into bright yellow silica glass which has been left scattered across the Sahara for ages.
"NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) spend billions of dollars collecting a few micrograms of comet material and bringing it back to Earth, and now we've got a radical new approach of studying this material, without spending billions of dollars collecting it," Kramers said.
"Comets contain the very secrets to unlocking the formation of our solar system and this discovery gives us an unprecedented opportunity to study comet material first hand," Professor David Block of Wits University, said.
