Opals which were discovered on Mars may suggest that the planet was home to life at some point. This precious stone, also called fire opals because of its distinctive red, yellow and orange coloration was discovered in one Martian meteorite, Nakhla.
This meteorite is currently the property of the Natural History Museum of London and was shot off the Red Planet millions of years ago after impact from a yet to be identified object. The name is given to the meteorite based on the Egyptian town in which it landed in 1911.
Researchers used an electron microscope in order to discover small amounts of this stone. This confirms readings from Martian rovers which stated that opals existed in the Red Planet’s crust. This stone was most probably created when silica interacted with water. This process occurs on Earth as well.
Opals are formed on Earth in large quantities near hot springs. This is where microbial life thrives. What’s more, opals have the ability to preserve microbial organisms for millions of years.
This is the first time that Martian opals have been detected and recovered on Earth. During the period of 1999-2006, there were some signs of biological activity as well even though they were not definite.
In 2013, the team that discovered these opals also found some secondary materials in it. These materials were supposed to have been formed by the reaction of water with minerals olivine and augite. This was the 1st ever evidence of water being able to dissolve the Red Planet.
This meteorite fell on the 28th of June 1911 and was witnessed by a number of people. It accounted for around twenty two pounds of debris and was split into roughly forty pieces. It was scattered around a 2.8 mile radius. The biggest piece weighed a little more than 4 pounds. A couple of the pieces were even donated to the Natural History Museum. Legend has it that a dog died when one of the pieces of this meteorite hit it although this story is unconfirmed.
