The Australian desert has housed mysterious glass blobs for centuries. Now scientists have found that they are proof of a meteorite impact 11 million years ago. Geoscientist Anna Musolino of Aix-Marseille University in France and her team studied these pieces of glass found in South Australia, also known as ananguites. They were surprised to learn that they were formed because of a giant asteroid impact. The biggest mystery is that there is no crater when the event must have been so powerful that it should have left mineral traces that persist in detectable quantities for millions of years, ScienceAlert reported. "These glasses are unique to Australia and have recorded an ancient impact event we did not even know about," geochronologist and geochemist Fred Jourdan of Curtin University in Australia said. The findings have been published in Earth &amp; Planetary Science Letters.&nbsp;"They formed when an asteroid slammed into Earth, melting surface rock and scattering debris for thousands of kilometres," he added, calling them tiny time capsules that hide a major event. Such a collision would have been massive, yet there is no crater, Fred said. Earlier, the Australasian strewnfield, which includes this particular part of the desert, was believed to have been a result of a giant meteorite impact somewhere in Southeast Asia around 788,000 years ago. These tiny glass beads are traditionally called tektites. In Australia, they are known as australites and are found in abundance. In 1969, scientists Dean Chapman and Leroy Scheiber of NASA analysed 530 australites and found that eight of them did not match the rest in mineral composition.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/unverified-3i-atlas-photo-and-japanese-video-go-viral-nasa-s-silence-fuels-misinformation-on-interstellar-comet-1762311606620">Unverified 3I/ATLAS photo and Japanese video go viral - NASA's silence fuels misinformation on interstellar comet</a>&nbsp;<h2>Some glass beads in Australian desert formed in a separate asteroid impact</h2>The finding raised doubts that they must have found from another impact. However, there was no other proof, and it died down. Now, Musolino decided to take another look to understand what could be the reason. These beads were denser, with higher magnetic susceptibility, different bubble patterns, and different ratios of trace elements. They scanned the australite collection at the South Australian Museum to find the odd beads that matched the profile. Their analysis proved that they were formed from a different impact on a different part of the crust from the Australasian strewnfield impact.&nbsp;Argon dating on two of the six samples showed that the newly identified ananguites are 11 million years old, way older than the tektites that were formed 788,000 years ago. The absence of a crater deepens the mystery, which they believe likely vanished due to "intense weathering and the aridification of central Australia that started around 33 million years ago."

A study has found evidence of an asteroid impact that shook Australia 11 million years ago. There are glass beads strewn across the desert floor, but they come from two different events - one in southeast Asia and the second in Australia.

The Australian desert has housed mysterious glass blobs for centuries. Now scientists have found that they are proof of a meteorite impact 11 million years ago. Geoscientist Anna Musolino of Aix-Marseille University in France and her team studied these pieces of glass found in South Australia, also known as ananguites. They were surprised to learn that they were formed because of a giant asteroid impact. The biggest mystery is that there is no crater when the event must have been so powerful that it should have left mineral traces that persist in detectable quantities for millions of years, ScienceAlert reported. "These glasses are unique to Australia and have recorded an ancient impact event we did not even know about," geochronologist and geochemist Fred Jourdan of Curtin University in Australia said. The findings have been published in Earth & Planetary Science Letters. "They formed when an asteroid slammed into Earth, melting surface rock and scattering debris for thousands of kilometres," he added, calling them tiny time capsules that hide a major event. Such a collision would have been massive, yet there is no crater, Fred said. Earlier, the Australasian strewnfield, which includes this particular part of the desert, was believed to have been a result of a giant meteorite impact somewhere in Southeast Asia around 788,000 years ago. These tiny glass beads are traditionally called tektites. In Australia, they are known as australites and are found in abundance. In 1969, scientists Dean Chapman and Leroy Scheiber of NASA analysed 530 australites and found that eight of them did not match the rest in mineral composition. Also Read: Unverified 3I/ATLAS photo and Japanese video go viral - NASA's silence fuels misinformation on interstellar comet Some glass beads in Australian desert formed in a separate asteroid impact The finding raised doubts that they must have found from another impact. However, there was no other proof, and it died down. Now, Musolino decided to take another look to understand what could be the reason. These beads were denser, with higher magnetic susceptibility, different bubble patterns, and different ratios of trace elements. They scanned the australite collection at the South Australian Museum to find the odd beads that matched the profile. Their analysis proved that they were formed from a different impact on a different part of the crust from the Australasian strewnfield impact. Argon dating on two of the six samples showed that the newly identified ananguites are 11 million years old, way older than the tektites that were formed 788,000 years ago. The absence of a crater deepens the mystery, which they believe likely vanished due to "intense weathering and the aridification of central Australia that started around 33 million years ago."

A study has found evidence of an asteroid impact that shook Australia 11 million years ago. There are glass beads strewn across the desert floor, but they come from two different events - one in Southeast Asia and the second in Australia.

An asteroid struck Australia 11 million years ago and no crater has ever been found

Some near-Earth objects (NEOs) are packed with rare metals like gold, platinum, and other precious elements, sometimes in quantities greater than what’s available on Earth. Here are seven such asteroids that could revolutionise space mining:

Some near-Earth objects (NEOs) are packed with rare metals like gold, platinum, and other precious elements, sometimes in quantities greater than what’s available on Earth. Here are seven such asteroids that could revolutionise space mining:

'$10,000 quadrillion': 7 asteroids that contain more gold than Earth

A handful of them are classified as “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids” (PHAs) because of their size and close approaches. Here’s a list of 10 such asteroids that scientists are keeping an eye on:

A handful of them are classified as “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids” (PHAs) because of their size and close approaches. Here’s a list of 10 such asteroids that scientists are keeping an eye on:

10 asteroids that could hit Earth in next 50 years

An asteroid that entered over France and exploded at quite a low altitude has uncovered a new impact risk that Earth's planetary defences might not be ready to fight. Asteroid 2023 CX1 burst into a fireball after disintegrating in the sky at an altitude of around 28 kilometres. According to a research that looked into the asteroid explosion, the asteroid did not start breaking apart after entering, and instead had a single explosion, releasing much of its energy at a very low height. Meteorites and other space rocks that enter Earth start disintegrating as soon as they hit the atmosphere, breaking apart in smaller chunks, thus releasing their energy slowly. But asteroid 2023 CX1 remained intact for a longer duration and only exploded after it came pretty close to the ground. NASA's Ames Research Centre calcualted that the meteor released a dynamic pressure of 4 MPa. A zone of high overpressures was created because of this, which was around four times bigger than expected for an asteroid of this size. Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/asteroid-ky26-smaller-and-faster-than-expected-new-challenge-for-japan-s-hayabusa2-1758376594361">Asteroid KY26 smaller and faster than expected, new challenge for Japan’s Hayabusa2</a><h2>What happens if a bigger asteroid explodes near the ground?</h2>This finding presents a scenario that has never been explored before in planetary defence. According to the study, if in future an asteroid similar to 2023 CX1 was to hit Earth, and undergoes a similar burst, then it could cause a significant damage at the ground level. This means that people working to secure the planet from asteroids and comets have a new problem on their hands. They now need to rethink what is considered a "safe" small impact in the future. The problem turns even bigger if a bigger piece of space rock were to hit Earth. If it behaves like 2023 CX1, it could wreak havoc. In the absence of multiple detonations in its trajectory, a single large blow occurs near the ground, making it act like a bomb, Auriane Egal, who conducted the research at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, said. Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/watch-did-china-shoot-down-a-meteor-with-a-missile-scientists-doubt-friday-s-fireball-came-from-space-1758011374415">Watch: Did China shoot down a meteor with a missile? Scientists doubt Friday's fireball came from space</a>&nbsp;She added that if a bigger asteroid entered Earth, the shock to the surface of our atmosphere would be significantly stronger. “This kind of fragmentation is more dangerous,” Egal continued. “If you have a larger asteroid, its effects are going to be amplified. Maybe we need to evacuate a larger area near the predicted impact location.” Explaining why 2023 CX1 behaved in this manner, Egal said it belings to a parent rock in the inner asteroid belt where many collisions likely "toughened" it up. “We have multiple shock veins in the meteorite that are witnesses [to] lots of impacts,” she said. This is why it held strong until the last minute.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Asteroid 2023 CX1 exploded over France two years ago. The rock did not undergo multiple detonations, and instead burst into a huge fireball very near to the ground. Scientists are now worried that we are not prepared for such an asteroid impact. 

An asteroid that entered over France and exploded at quite a low altitude has uncovered a new impact risk that Earth's planetary defences might not be ready to fight. Asteroid 2023 CX1 burst into a fireball after disintegrating in the sky at an altitude of around 28 kilometres. According to a research that looked into the asteroid explosion, the asteroid did not start breaking apart after entering, and instead had a single explosion, releasing much of its energy at a very low height. Meteorites and other space rocks that enter Earth start disintegrating as soon as they hit the atmosphere, breaking apart in smaller chunks, thus releasing their energy slowly. But asteroid 2023 CX1 remained intact for a longer duration and only exploded after it came pretty close to the ground. NASA's Ames Research Centre calcualted that the meteor released a dynamic pressure of 4 MPa. A zone of high overpressures was created because of this, which was around four times bigger than expected for an asteroid of this size. Also Read: Asteroid KY26 smaller and faster than expected, new challenge for Japan’s Hayabusa2 What happens if a bigger asteroid explodes near the ground? This finding presents a scenario that has never been explored before in planetary defence. According to the study, if in future an asteroid similar to 2023 CX1 was to hit Earth, and undergoes a similar burst, then it could cause a significant damage at the ground level. This means that people working to secure the planet from asteroids and comets have a new problem on their hands. They now need to rethink what is considered a "safe" small impact in the future. The problem turns even bigger if a bigger piece of space rock were to hit Earth. If it behaves like 2023 CX1, it could wreak havoc. In the absence of multiple detonations in its trajectory, a single large blow occurs near the ground, making it act like a bomb, Auriane Egal, who conducted the research at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, said. Also Read: Watch: Did China shoot down a meteor with a missile? Scientists doubt Friday's fireball came from space She added that if a bigger asteroid entered Earth, the shock to the surface of our atmosphere would be significantly stronger. “This kind of fragmentation is more dangerous,” Egal continued. “If you have a larger asteroid, its effects are going to be amplified. Maybe we need to evacuate a larger area near the predicted impact location.” Explaining why 2023 CX1 behaved in this manner, Egal said it belings to a parent rock in the inner asteroid belt where many collisions likely "toughened" it up. “We have multiple shock veins in the meteorite that are witnesses [to] lots of impacts,” she said. This is why it held strong until the last minute.

Asteroid 2023 CX1 exploded over France two years ago. The rock did not undergo multiple detonations, and instead burst into a huge fireball very near to the ground. Scientists are now worried that we are not prepared for such an asteroid impact.&nbsp;