---
title: "Scientists Found a Chunk of a Comet Inside a Meteorite"
description: "In a rare find, scientists found what they think are fragments of a comet sealed away deep inside of a meteorite that struck Antarctica."
date: "2019-04-15"
modified: "2019-04-15"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-chunk-comet-inside-meteorite"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Found a Chunk of a Comet Inside a Meteorite

![In a rare find, scientists found what they think are fragments of a comet sealed away deep inside of a meteorite that struck Antarctica.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/scientists-chunk-comet-inside-meteorite.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Space Turducken

Scientists just found a chunk of comet hiding inside of a rocky meteorite that fell to Earth.

Normally, [comets burn up](<https://futurism.com/clip-of-distant-comet-p67>) as they enter Earth's atmosphere. In other words, [according to ](<https://gizmodo.com/piece-of-a-comet-found-tucked-inside-meteorite-1834047378>)*Gizmodo,* this cosmic calzone provided a protective shield around the comet fragments, giving scientists an valuable opportunity to study the origins of the solar system.

## Small Samples

The meteorite in question is called LaPaz Icefield 02342, which was [found in Antarctica](<https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=12609>) in 2002. This [new probe into the meteorite's composition](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0737-8>), published Monday in the journal ­*Nature Astronomy*, describes 100 micron-thick — the size of a thick human hair — carbon-rich segments that the scientists suspect originated in a comet.

Without actually knowing how the meteorite formed, the scientists can't quite conclude that it's housing pieces of a comet, according to *Gizmodo*. But based on what scientists do know about comets and meteorites, the researchers suspect that a still-forming comet collided with a meteorite that eventually fell to Earth.

Very few comets survive the descent to Earth, so if that's really what scientists found, it could give them a rare glimpse into how celestial bodies are formed.

**READ MORE:** [Piece of a Comet Found Tucked Inside Meteorite](<https://gizmodo.com/piece-of-a-comet-found-tucked-inside-meteorite-1834047378>) \[*Gizmodo*\]

**More on space:** *[Meteoroid Strikes Smash Water Out of The Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/meteoroid-strikes-rob-moon-surface-water>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)