NWA 12774 Meteorite Points to 2,050-Mile Ancient Planet in Early Solar System
Updated
Updated · Futurism · Jun 6
NWA 12774 Meteorite Points to 2,050-Mile Ancient Planet in Early Solar System
3 articles · Updated · Futurism · Jun 6
Summary
A one-pound meteorite found in the Sahara in 2019 has yielded evidence of a lost early planet whose parent body may have measured 1,118 to 2,050 miles across—roughly Moon-sized.
Scientists traced that conclusion to aluminum-rich clinopyroxene in NWA 12774, an extremely rare angrite, whose chemistry and pressure signatures imply formation inside a very large body but still near its surface.
The team said the meteorite's ingredients differ fundamentally from those that built Earth and Mars, pointing to a separate planetary formation pathway in the solar system's first few million years.
Published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the study suggests the body later broke apart and that other meteorites already on Earth may preserve evidence of more vanished protoplanets.
What other ancient worlds from our solar system's chaotic past are hidden in existing meteorite collections?
How does a lost world's unique chemistry rewrite the story of how planets like Earth were born?
Does this shattered protoplanet mean failed worlds are a common feature of young star systems across the galaxy?
NWA 12774: How a 4.56-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Unveiled a Lost Mars-Sized World
Overview
The discovery of the NWA 12774 meteorite in the Sahara Desert in 2019 marked a turning point in planetary science. Analyzed by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, this rare angrite—formed about 4.56 billion years ago—challenged the long-held belief that angrites came from small asteroids. Instead, its unique mineral composition revealed it originated from a much larger, Mars-sized protoplanet. This finding provided unprecedented insights into early planetary formation, showing that our solar system once hosted more diverse and massive planetary bodies than previously thought, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of its dynamic history.