THis rock is ‘billions of yeArs old’
A space rock that’s possibly “billions of years old” and worth “millions of dollars” is now on display at Dubai’s Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre.
Hasan Al Hariri, the centre’s CEO, told Khaleej Times that they found the 66kg meteorite in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert four years ago.
“This is one of the biggest meteorites we have in our centre. It’s made of nickel and iron. It has a burnt crust on the outer layer — it tells you that it has gone through the atmosphere and has been heated to a level that it changed its look on the outside. When you look internally, it’s filled with rust, which tells you the content inside,” he said.
“The story of this guy is that it fell to the ground, cracked into pieces, and all of those elements got exposed to the weather, so we can see that the iron has been oxidised by the oxygen.”
He said that they never anticipated they’d find “such a big chunk” as people claiming to find meteorites call the centre all the time, and most of the time, the rocks aren’t from space.
“It’s worth a few million dollars. One of the key elements to determine the cost of a meteorite is its size, weight, and the fact that it’s in one whole piece and not in chunks,” Al Hariri said.
The giant space rock is on display along with 300 other rocks, in various sizes, at the centre.
A couple of years of ago, Al Hariri purchased a meteorite, worth about Dh500 million, from an auction. The centre also has a piece of a meteorite that fell in Russia’s Chelyabinsk City, which shattered the glass of several buildings and injured a few.
The long-term plan for the centre’s meteorite lab is for it to be expanded into a meteorite centre, where space rocks can be legally traded, purchased and sold. Some of the meteorites at the centre are already available for purchase.
Khaleej Times revealed previously that a draft law on space objects was passed at the Federal National Council. It states that no one is allowed to do space rock mining in the country without seeking permission. The fine is up to Dh10 million for violators.