Found minerals in cosmic dust in Scotland

Geologists found osbornite, a mineral once collected by NASA.

Geologists at London University discovered alien minerals called osbornite on the island of Skye, Scotland, Fox News reported yesterday. This is the first time this mineral has been found on Earth.

Osbornite was collected as cosmic dust in a NASA mission. Scientists found osbornite while studying volcanic rocks in the erupted lava region 60 million years ago.

Extraterrestrial minerals were discovered by the research team.(Photo: News.com.au).

At first, the team thought it was a ignimbrite , a kind of sediment from volcanic eruption. However, after using an electronic detector, they found that it was a rare cosmic mineral .

"We were shocked when we found this mineral. We were quite shocked because we didn't think it could happen," said Dr. Andy Beard at Planet and Earth Sciences. Since it is not melted, it is possible that this mineral is a meteorite fragment.

The area found steep and muddy osbornite. Perhaps this is the reason why researchers have not been able to explore this area before, according to Dr Simon Drake at Planetary and Earth Sciences.

The new finding led the experts to question the location of the meteorite crashing on Earth and whether the impact was then the cause of lava. The team also found similar minerals in the eruption from another location nearly 7km away.