The discovery of a meteorite in the Sahara Desert in 2019 has revealed a lost planet that vanished from the solar system. This finding has significant implications for our understanding of planetary formation and evolution. The meteorite, known as NWA 12774, has a unique chemical composition that sets it apart from other space rocks. It is an angrite, a rare type of volcanic rock that formed in the early solar system. The key to this discovery lies in the crystals locked inside the meteorite. These crystals recorded pressures that no small asteroid could ever produce, suggesting that the meteorite formed on a world the size of the moon or even approaching Mars. This finding challenges our understanding of planetary formation, as it implies that some planets may have formed through a different process than previously thought. The study of this meteorite provides the first evidence of a world between the size of the moon and Mars that followed its own chemical recipe. It evolved along a different path from the one that built Earth, and more lost worlds may still be sitting unstudied in museum drawers. This discovery raises a deeper question: what other secrets are hidden in the solar system, waiting to be uncovered?
