NASA's Stardust space craft has discovered some really unusual minerals while it was snooping around the comet named Wild 2. Word from NASA is that some of the minerals and other elements they found unexpectedly include: olivine, titanium, aluminum, and forsterite (pictured), which is a silicate mineral common found in the gemstone peridot.

"Samples from comet Wild 2 have surprised scientists, indicating the formation of at least some comets may have included materials ejected by the early sun to the far reaches of the solar system.

Scientists have found minerals formed near the sun or other stars in the samples returned to Earth by NASA's Stardust spacecraft in January. The findings suggest materials from the center of the solar system could have traveled to the outer reaches where comets formed. This may alter the way scientists view the formation and composition of comets.

"The interesting thing is we are finding these high-temperature minerals in materials from the coldest place in the solar system," said Donald Brownlee, Stardust principal investigator from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Scientists have long thought of comets as cold, billowing clouds of ice, dust and gases formed on the edges of the solar system. But comets may not be so simple or similar. They may prove to be diverse bodies with complex histories. Comet Wild 2 seems to have had a more complex history than thought."

Read more: NASA's Stardust Findings May Alter View of Comet Formation