On June 27, 1931, local residents watched in awe as a fireball exploded over the Tunisian city of Tataouine, showering hundreds of meteorite fragments.
Fittingly, the city later became a major filming location for the Star Wars film series. The desert climate and traditional villages were a major inspiration for director George Lucas to name Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s fictional home planet “Tatooine.”
Mysterious 1931 meteorite, a rare type of meteorite achondrite The meteorite known as diogenite (a meteorite that has undergone melting) is clearly not a fragment of Skywalker’s home planet. But it is also named after the city of Tatahawin.
Now, recent research has gleaned important insights into the origin of meteorites and the early solar system.
Lucas filmed various Star Wars scenes at Tataha Inn. These include Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).Many famous scenes It was filmed there” including the scene.Mos Espa” and “Mos Eisley Cantina.”
Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker, recalled filming in Tunisia and discussed it. empire magazine: “When you can get into your own mind, shut out the crew and look out at the horizon, it really feels like you’ve been transported to another world.”
Ingredients and origin
It is named after diogenite. Greek philosopher Diogenes, an igneous meteorite (a rock made of solidified lava or magma). They formed deep within the asteroid and cooled slowly to form relatively large crystals.
Tatahawin is no exception, containing crystals up to 5 mm in size and crossed by black streaks. sample Throughout. The black veins are called shock-induced shock dissolution veins and are the result of the high temperatures and pressures caused by the projectile impacting the surface of the meteorite’s parent body.
The presence of these veins and the structure of the grains of pyroxene (a mineral containing calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum) suggest that the sample was subjected to pressures of up to 25 gigapascals (GPa). pressure.
To put this into perspective, the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of our ocean, only 0.1 GPa. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that this sample was significantly influenced.
By evaluating the spectrum (the light reflected by the surface broken down into wavelengths), meteorite And comparing it to asteroids and planets in our solar system suggests that diogenite, including Tataouine, originates from an asteroid known as the Asteroid Belt, the second largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. 4 Vesta.
This asteroid holds interesting and exciting information about the early solar system.Many of the meteorites from Vesta 4 are ancient, about 4 billion years old Year. They therefore provide a window into past events in the early solar system that we cannot appreciate here on Earth.
violent past
In a recent study, 18 diogenites, including Tataouine, were investigated, all from 4 Vesta. The authors “Radiometric argon-argon dating“Techniques for determining the age of meteorites.
It is based on observing two different isotopes (versions of an element with more or fewer particles called neutrons in the nucleus). Certain argon isotopes in a sample are known to increase at a known rate with age, helping scientists estimate the age of a sample by comparing the ratio between two different isotopes. Masu.
The research team also assessed the deformation caused by the impact, called an impact event, using a type of electron microscopy technique. electron backscatter diffraction.
By combining dating and microscopy techniques, the authors were able to map the timing of the impact event on Vesta IV and the early solar system. The study suggests that the four Vestas experienced continuous impact events until a catastrophe occurred 3.4 billion years ago.
This catastrophic event, likely the impact of another asteroid, produced multiple small debris pile asteroids known as “.BestoidUnraveling these large-scale impact events reveals the hostile nature of the early solar system.
These small objects have experienced further impacts that sent material flying to Earth over the past 50 to 60 million years, including the Tunisian fireball.
Ultimately, this study shows the importance of studying meteorites. Collisions play a major role in the evolution of asteroids in the solar system.
ben rider stokespostdoctoral researcher on achondrite meteorites, Open University
This article is republished from conversation Under Creative Commons License.read Original work.