Researchers have discovered an challenging mineral inside an iron meteorite that fell in Russia two years ago . Although only microscopical crystals were break , the researchers were able-bodied to estimate some of its holding , include its hardness . The squad think that the Modern mineral could be as hard as infield .
The discovery was announced at the81st Annual Meeting of The Meteoritical Society . The mineral was named " uakitite " after Uakit , the name of the asteroid . Uakitite is made of N and a transitional metal called vanadium . This is the first good example of a vanadium nitride to be found in nature , and it is also the first deterrent example of a natural chemical compound made of atomic number 23 and N that is oxygen free .
“ To turn out the breakthrough of a new mineral , it is necessary to receive data on its crystal structure , ” fourth-year author Professor Viktor Grokhovsky , from Ural Federal University ( UrFU ) , said in astatement . “ Since the size of uakitite is very small-scale , about 1 - 5 microns , it was out of the question to solve this problem by the traditional method of X - ray analysis . The social organisation was analyze on the equipment of UrFU scientific and educational center ' Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies ' using electron diffraction . ”
Electron diffraction is one of the several approaches that use negatron alternatively of light to learn microscopical bodily structure . The crystals inside the meteorite were either in three-dimensional physique or little spheres , which depended on the mineral in which they were plant . The chemical substance structure was similar to other well - experience nitride minerals .
The physical properties of the sample could n’t be immediately get since the sampling were so small , but by studying the atomic system in the crystal , the team was able to compare it to a synthetical adaptation of V nitride . atomic number 23 nitride is twice as dense as diamond and it has a hardness on the Mohs weighing machine , between nine and 10 . adamant is the hardest cloth at a hardness of 10 .
meteorite go along to provide researchers with challenging tidbits of extreme mineralogy – some had neverbeen seen before , some were only bring forth in the lab , and others are helping us understand the solar system beforethe Earth organize .
