Back in May 2015 , an Australian prospector typeset off to purge the Maryborough Regional Park in search of his chance , but alternatively of strikinggold , he get along across something that was – regrettably for him – invaluable . Intrigued by the density and free weight of a slightly odd - look reddish rock , David Hole spend the next four age essay to snap open this seemingly dense specimen , only to finally discover that it was in fact a 4.6 - billion - year - oldmeteorite .

Mr Hole stumbled upon the find with the help of a metal sensor while dig for gold near Melbourne , in a region that had become synonymous with the valued metal during the nineteenth - century gold - haste . Hoping to witness a nugget inside the rock ‘n’ roll , he later undertake to access its interior using everything from acid to a sledge , without success .

Baffled as to why the rock was so reluctant to unwrap its privileged secrets , he decided to take it to the Melbourne Museum , where it was identified as a meteorite .

scientist used a diamond saw to slice off a shaving of the ancientspace rock , discovering that it was in fact anH chondrite . The most vulgar type of meteorite , H chondrites contain a high part of iron and make up about 40 percent of all meteorites ever find .

draw the rock , Melbourne Museum geologist Dermot Henry told theSydney Morning Heraldthat “ it had this sculpted , dimpled look to it , ” which lead from the outside of the meteorite melting as it plunged through Earth ’s atmosphere .

The object ’s utmost weight is attributed to some of the metals it contains , include dense forms of iron and nickel . It is also speckled with droplets of metal call chondrules , which spring during the other stages of the Solar System ’s development before later becoming imbed in an asteroid .

The meteorite has been name Maryborough after the place where it was found , and carbon geological dating suggests it clangor - landed between 100 and 1,000 years ago .

Describing the specimen in theProceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria , the team lists a identification number of memorialize meteorite sightings from the annals of history that could possibly correlate to Maryborough . One such sighting was cover by a Harry E. Hallett in a letter to The Argus in June 1923 .

Addressing the editors , he draw how the “ brilliant meteor … almost daze me , and knight out in the paddocks nicker such a whinny of care that I will never blank out it . ”

weigh 17 kilograms ( 37.5 pounds ) , the Maryborough meteor is the second largest ever to be found in the state of Victoria .