- One Strange Rock
Diamonds From Outer Space Formed Inside a Long-Lost Planet
A gem-studded meteorite that fell in Sudan offers clues about the protoplanets that likely existed in our solar system's violent past.
Diamonds that fell to Earth inside a meteorite may contain the remnants of our solar system's first planets, protoworlds that were lost billions of years ago to extreme bombardments and collisions.
If humans could peer back in time, the solar system we call home would be unrecognizable during its first 10 million of existence. That's because astronomers think swarms of protoplanets — balls of gas, dust, and rock about the size of Mercury or Mars — once swirled around our young sun.
Eventually, these objects collided and broke apart or were pushed out of the solar system entirely. Their remains make up the eight planets we see today as well as the asteroids and other rocky debris whirling around the sun.
However, it's
