The mineral is believed to make up 36 percent of the total volume of Earth, making it the most abundant thing on our planet. Yet it is found so deep down below the surface—410 to 1615 miles—that it's never been seen before. Those depths are so volatile that even if we could dig down there, the samples would be destroyed before they could be studied.

Now scientists have finally succeed in getting a glimpse of this stuff, which they just named bridgmanite (you can't name a mineral until you've actually observed the thing). And they did it by a circuitous route—they looked for it in meteors.

RELATED: 4 Rare Earth Elements That Will Only Get More Important.

Specifically, they dug into shocked meteors, which are formed under spurts of intense pressure, such as when one asteroid slams into another. This makes the meteors a sort of microcosm of Earth, and a way for scientists to see what kind of minerals form under high pressures like those inside our planet.

We still don't know how bridgmanite behaves within the lower mantle of Earth. But at least the mineral made of magnesium, silicon, and oxygen finally has been positively identified and given a name.

RELATED: Why Is This Rock Worth $400,000?

Via MotherBoard.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io