A man kept a rock for years, believing it contained gold... The surprise was far greater!

 A rock from space carries a history older than Earth itself.                      

A man kept a rock for years, believing it contained gold... The surprise was far greater!

In 2015, Australian David Hall was exploring Maryborough Regional Park near Melbourne, equipped with a metal detector, searching for gold in an area historically known for its 19th-century gold rush. While digging in the yellow soil, he unearthed a strangely shaped, heavy, reddish-brown rock.

It was part of a meteorite that fell in 1803.

Hall believed he had found a golden treasure. He took the rock home and tried everything to break it: a rock saw, a grinder, a drill, and even immersing it in acid, but to no avail. Even a sledgehammer couldn't crack it. 

After years of uncertainty, Hall decided to show the rock to experts at the Melbourne Museum. To his surprise, the rock was not just a stone, but a 4.6-billion-year-old meteorite, later named "Maryborough" after the region where it was found.

Heavier than expected... and rarer than gold

The meteorite weighs approximately 17 kilograms. Using a diamond saw, researchers were able to cut a small piece, discovering a high iron content, classifying it as an "H5 normal chondrite." Crystalline mineral droplets known as chondrolites were also found within it, providing clues to the formation of the solar system.

"If you picked up a rock like this on Earth, it shouldn't be this heavy," geologist Dermot Henry of the Melbourne Museum told the Sydney Morning Herald. "These outer protrusions form when the meteorite melts as it enters the atmosphere."

A Window into the Secrets of the Universe

Researchers confirm that meteorites represent the cheapest way to explore space, as they carry clues about the age and composition of the solar system, and even the origins of life, since some meteorites contain organic molecules such as amino acids. 

This particular meteorite likely originated from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, before being propelled toward Earth by impacts. Radiocarbon dating indicates that it fell to our planet between 100 and 1000 years ago, and may be linked to phenomena observed between 1889 and 1951.

Rareer than gold... and more valuable scientifically

What makes this discovery exceptional is its rarity. It is one of only 17 meteorites found in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second 

largest chondrite after a 55-kilogram meteorite discovered in 2003. Henry said, "Finding this meteorite is almost astronomical, especially considering that thousands of gold nuggets have been discovered in the area, compared to just 17 meteorites."

The study documenting the discovery was published in the journal "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria," adding a new chapter to the story of rocks from space.