Researchers and scientists have just been offered a gift from Argentina, in the form of a meteorite that weighs 30 tons. A group of excavators unearthed the meteorite in an area called Campo del Cielo and it may just be the second largest meteorite that has ever been found.
"Although we knew what we were after and what our research is, what surprised us was the size and weight of it," said Mario Vesconi, president of Astronomical Association, in an interview with Telam. He explained that heavy extraction equipment was used to take the meteorite from the ground and to weigh it.
According to Fox News, despite the researchers' first impression on the giant meteorite, they did not expect it to go over 30 tons. Vesconi further explained that they will have to double check its weight for credibility and for the recalibration of their research.
The 30-ton meteorite unearthed in Argentina is only second to the unmovable Hoba West meteorite found in Nabia in 1920. It weighs over 60 tons and is now considered as a national monument.
Before making any conclusive reports on what was found in Argentina, scientists and researchers alike will have to perform tests to make sure that it is indeed a meteorite. Campo del Cielo, also known as Field of the Sky is the area in which scientists believe that a storm of meteorites fell over 4,000 years ago. Although the scientists' theory may well be proven to hold a percentage of the truth with this recent discovery, nothing can be presumed without evidence.
For many decades, scientists have scoured the Earth for meteorites in an attempt to study what is beyond the planet Earth. With the size of the meteorite found in Argentina, it can prove to be a data goldmine. It can offer answers to the questions of how old the solar system is or at the very least, what it is made of.
