Opals from Space...

They have alway had quite the mysterious, unusual look about them, looking like they are magical and from a great fairy story, they come full of folklore and history - but now opals are in the news for another quirky fact -

They found them in space. On Mars to be exact. 

Published last month in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets by a team of Arizona State University and NASA-affiliated researchers, they are saying the Red Planet's Gale Crater is teeming with opals.

Before you get excited about upcoming jewels from space, the scientist are excited for an actual scientific significance to the finding, which suggests that the area held vast reserves of water far more recently than we previously thought. Not only rewriting Mars history that we thought we knew, but possibly useful for us in the future.

Over the last few years Curiosity; NASA’s Mars rover, has taken images of rocks and occasionally one or two that seem to have a fractured light halo and suggest they may be made out of opal. Now it's found these rocks - gemstones!- are abundant across the Gale crater; a vast accent lake bed, that Curiosity has been exploring in for the last decade. 

Opals are formed when silica dissolves in water, and scientists say it can be separated relatively easily too - meaning a possibility it could one day be a crucial water source for future astronauts. 

We have always loved a good opal - and have several here at Almagrove Jewellers. These are our favourites-

4.43ct Black Opal and 0.89ct Diamond Platinum Ring - look at this! What a magnificent piece!

And this one -

3.07ct Black Opal and 0.96ct Diamond Platinum Ring, incredible blue shades.

Please click the images for all further details on each opal.