There are two meteorites found in the Sahara desert in 2023 and researchers suspect they may come from Hermes, which would make them the first recognized fragments of the closest to the sun to the sun.

The least studied and more mysterious than the rocky planet of the solar system, Hermes, is so close to the sun that his exploration is difficult even for detectors. Only two unmanned spaceships have visited him to date – Mariner 10, launched in 1973, and Messenger, launched in 2004. A third, Bepicolombo, is on the way and is expected to enter the trajectory around the planet in late 2026.

Scientists know little about the geology and composition of Hermes and have never been able to study a part of the planet that landed on Earth as a meteorite. On the contrary, there are More than 1,100 known samples from the Moon and Mars In the meteorological company database, an organization that records all known meteors.

These 1,100 meteorites came from fragments that were tossed from the surfaces of the Moon and Mars during asteroids, before reaching Earth after a trip to space.

It is not possible for any planet to launch fragments of itself towards Earth during conflict. Although Venus is closer to us than Mars, its greatest gravitational attraction and its dense atmosphere can prevent the jumping of impact debris. However, some astronomers believe that Hermes should be capable of producing meteorites.

The chances of each planet to launch fragments of itself to Earth during conflict are not the same for every planet. For example, although Aphrodite is closer to Earth than Mars, its greatest gravitational attraction and dense atmosphere can prevent launching debris in space

“Based on the data we have from lunar and Aryan meteors, the models show that we should have found about 10 meteorites from Hermes,” said Ben Ryder-Tuks, a post-doctrine at the UK’s Open University. However, he explains that “Hermes’ proximity to the Sun means that what is launched by Hermes must also escape the gravitational attraction of the Sun – which is theoretically possible but extremely difficult.”

If it is confirmed that the two meteorites found in 2023 – under the names Northwest Africa 15915 (NWA 15915) and Ksar Ghilane 022 (kg 022) – come from Hermes, then they will greatly help scientists understand more about the planet – according to Rider -Stokes. But he and his co-authors are the first to warn of some inconsistencies in matching these space rocks with what scientists know about Hermes.

The most important thing is that The fragments appear to have formed about 500 million years Earlier than the surface of Mercury itself. However, according to Rider-Stokes, this finding could be based on inaccurate estimates, making a definitive assessment unlikely. “Until we return material from Mercury or visit the surface,” he said, “it will be very difficult to prove with certainty or deny the origin of these samples by Hermes.”

But there are some indications in the composition that suggest that Meteors may have some connection to the planet closest to the sun.

But this is not the first time that well -known meteors have been associated with Hermes. The previous candidate for a meteorite who had attracted the interest of scientists, was a fragment called Northwest Africa (NWA) 7325, allegedly found in South Morocco in early 2012. Although there was initially enthusiasm that he could not come from Planet.

Most of what is known for the surface and composition of Hermes come from NASA’s Messenger detector, who evaluated the composition of the planet’s cortex from its orbit. Both meteorites studied, which Rider-Stokes analyzed with various organs, including an electronic microscope, contain Olivine and fire, two poor minerals in iron, which were confirmed by Messenger that there are in Hermes. The new analysis also revealed a complete deficiency of iron samples of space rocks, which is in line with scientists’ cases about the surface of the planet. However, meteorites contained only traces of a mineral believed to dominate the surface of Hermes.

The greatest point of uncertainty, however, It is still the age of the meteors. “It’s about 4.5 billion years old,” Rider-Stokes said, “and most of Hermes’ surface is only about 4 billion years old, so there is a difference of 500 million years.”

However, he said that he believes that this discrepancy is not sufficient to exclude the origin of Hermes, due to the limited reliability of messenger data, which have also been used to assess the age of the Hermes surface layer.

With the most modern instruments now available, the bepicolombo, the European Space Service spaceship that will start studying Hermes in early 2027, may be able to answer long -term questions about the planet.