Meteorites get discovered rather often, but one found in 2011 at a limestone site in Sweden has proven to be in a class all of its own.

Meteorites get discovered rather often, but one found not long ago has proven to be in a class all of its own. Scientists have identified a piece of space rock that is chemically different than all other known examples.

A new study led by Sweden’s Lund University describes the specimen, which was found in 2011 at one of the country’s limestone sites. 

Named Österplana 065, or Öst 65 for short, it is the first known evidence of a smaller asteroid that is believed to have collided with a larger one about 470 million years ago. 

The lead author has since noted, “We know absolutely nothing about what types of meteorites fell on Earth in the distant past, before one or two million years.” 

One of the other team members agrees, telling Mashable, “This means also that the meteorites of today, on which we base our understanding of the formation of the solar system, are not very representative of what is out there.” 

There are plans to continue examining specimens from the quarry.