Overview
- The peer‑reviewed study published April 10, 2026, in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reports that NWA 12774 contains aluminum‑rich clinopyroxene whose chemistry requires at least 17.5 kilobars of formation pressure.
- Those pressures cannot be produced inside small asteroids and imply an angrite parent body with a radius of at least about 1,000 km and possibly greater than 1,800 km, comparable to the Moon and approaching Mars size.
- Crystal textures in the meteorite show sharp edges and fine chemical zoning that point to formation at relatively shallow depths inside a large body, strengthening the protoplanet interpretation.
- Researchers propose the parent protoplanet was later shattered by a catastrophic collision, but the timing and exact breakup mechanism remain unresolved and need further study.
- Because angrites are extremely rare and formed within millions of years of Solar System birth, the finding calls for targeted reanalysis of meteorite collections and revisions to models of early planet formation.