Purple Planet Charoite Sphere

Find a purple planet, and you may have spotted alien life. Some of the first Earthlings were purple bacteria that ruled the planet about 3 billion years ago. If any Earth-like exoplanets host similar microbes, their distinctive hue will be visible from space. Charoite is an extremely rare stone found only in Siberia, Russia – and there, only in the Republic of Sakha (also known as Yakutia).