Weird hybrid meteorite may be evidence of a chaotic early solar system

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

A meteorite that fell on Earth more than a century ago may contain some of the first concrete evidence for a cosmic smash-up in the early solar system.

Following the birth of our sun 4.5 billion years ago, it is thought that Jupiter’s formation caused two reservoirs of asteroids to gather in the solar system, one inside the giant planet’s orbit and one outside. The former are known as non-carbonaceous asteroids, because they are traditionally low in carbon, whereas the latter are …