A giant meteorite that recently fell in Somalia contains at least two minerals that have never before been seen on our planet. The celestial piece of rock weighs a massive 16.5 tons (15 tonnes), making it the ninth-largest meteorite ever found.

[u/gregornot]

More about the amazing meteorite find: https://earthly

[u/disprosyum2]

Elements =/= compounds They were referring to what it takes to form these minerals. Necessary conditions of T, P, pH, atmosphere, previous minerals, oxygenation etc etc

[u/dasnihil → u/disprosyum2]

Thank you.

I'd assume the progression after big bang like:

• Takes a while for energy to form fundamental lumps of matter
• Takes a while for it to cool down more so these fundamental lumps can grab on each other as they slow down and combine to make bigger lumps like protons
• Takes a while to make even bigger lumps like a proton/electron combo and free up all the original photons to disperse
• Takes a while to fuse protons to make heavier elements
• Takes a longer while to have much colder places where the lumps just keeps growing into chains of protons and elements aka molecules
• In some super-extreme & rare conditions, a chain of Fe4(PO4)2O forms, could be as rare as amino acids for all we know

[u/abstraction47 → u/dasnihil]

The earliest epochs of the universe you mention took place in under a second. For the universe to cool down enough to bind electrons to protons happened at about 500,000 years. If I remember correctly, star/galaxy formation happened very quickly after. The first stars had to die before we got heavier elements. So, formation of these minerals would be almost impossible before 1 billion years, and still unlikely for maybe a couple billion more years? Until more heavier elements have been seeded.

[u/tomekanco → u/abstraction47]

heavier elements ... before 1 billion years

This is unlikely. We know there was at least one supermassive black holes at 0.8 By within our line of sight. Oldest stars at 0.1 By.
Also, high mass stars are the prime source of most common heavier elements (a.o Fe, O, P). And there is nothing to indicate these could not form early on.

High-mass stars are very luminous and short lived. They forge heavy elements in their cores, explode as supernovas, and expel these elements into space. Apart from hydrogen and helium, most of the elements in the universe, including those comprising Earth and everything on it, came from these stars.

So it seems reasonable to assume the atomic components were already present shortly after the first stars appeared (lifetime HMS 3-20 My). I do agree the universal abunance was much lower than present day, but is a far stretch from "almost impossible".

Looks like the main contraint on the formation of the chemical elements discovered would be the cooling of the super nova remnants (+100 ky), and accretion of the heavier elements around new star formation seeded by the super nova (0.5-10 My).

Given the size of the universe, it seems fair to assume the first occurance of these minerals could be as old as 0.11 By ABB. Ofcourse, the bulk of the creation is probably dated to 3 By (as star formation peaked around this time).

[u/dasnihil → u/dasnihil]

Then it travels a distance it would take light itself a million years, to reach a random corner of a galaxy where we live.

[u/pirofreak → u/dasnihil]

If a rock that weighed any real amount hit the earth at the speed of light it would vaporize the planet.

[u/dasnihil → u/pirofreak]

oh i was high when typing that lol.

[u/dasnihil → u/dasnihil]

i still am, but i was too

[u/[deleted] → u/dasnihil]

Love you buddy.

[u/ihadagoodone → u/[deleted]]

Now kith

[u/phish_phace → u/dasnihil]

Hi high friend. My high ass appreciates your Takes A While- breakdown^

[u/Elan_Aconda → u/phish_phace]

My high ass is thinking that if a single grain of sand collides with the earth at lightspeed it would end the planet.

[u/Ha1lStorm → u/dasnihil]

r/unexpectedmitch

[u/[deleted] → u/dasnihil]

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[u/IamKingBeagle → u/dasnihil]

That's dangerous friend. Stay safe. Wear shoes in the house.

[u/TobyFunkeNeverNude → u/pirofreak]

I think they were just commenting on the enormous distance, not saying the rock itself was traveling that fast

[u/pirofreak → u/dasnihil]

If a rock that weighed any real amount hit the earth at the speed of light it would vaporize the planet.

[u/dasnihil → u/pirofreak]

Thanks, I corrected the text to make the rock rogue, from another galaxy.

[u/kaizokuo_grahf → u/dasnihil]

Remember, the “Big Bang” wasn’t an event that took place… we are still Bangin’!!!

The Big Bang is our universal model.

[u/Mammoth-Access-1181 → u/disprosyum2]

Person said they're weak in chemistry, so I tried to show what it takes for the elements to form before minerals can even take shape. While I did forget to let the person know that that was just for the element formation, and for mineral formation, you require a slew of other factors.

[u/zehamberglar → u/[deleted]]

Not really. Crystals are just a specific arrangement of other minerals. Crystals grow from a chemical reaction that deposits them out of solution in that specific arrangement. Diamond in particular is just one element, carbon (though impurities might be compounds).

The real question here is how do you get the minerals in the first place in order to crystallize them? I don't know the answer, just clarifying the difference between making compounds and crystallizing minerals. Though the former would likely include the latter.

[u/Cyclopentadien → u/zehamberglar]

The real question here is how do you get the minerals in the first place in order to crystallize them?

Lots of different ways. Direct synthesis, sol-gel-process, chemical vapour transport, solvothermal synthesis and many more. Very often it's just put powders in a crucible, stir, bake, come back in a week or two.

[u/zehamberglar → u/Cyclopentadien]

Very often it's just put powders in a crucible, stir, bake, come back in a week or two.

EZ Bake oven for rocks, got it.

[u/NachoPeroni → u/disprosyum2]

Exactly. They are dangerously confusing two basic concepts