‘We found a meteorite!': Joy as rare space rocks discovered in WA outback
A team of scientists has uncovered two rare meteorite fragments on remote salt flats in outback Western Australia, days after a fireball lit up the skies above Perth and surrounding regions on Mother's Day.
Researchers from Curtin University, part of the Desert Fireball Network, traced the meteorite's dramatic descent to Lake Hope, a barren expanse roughly seven hours east of Perth, using hi-tech weather modelling and an extensive network of sky-monitoring cameras.
Planetary scientist Hadrien Devillepoix told 9News the team used the advanced weather modelling to predict how the meteorite would drift in the wind once it had slowed down enough.
They then drove for hours through rugged terrain and dense bush before trekking on foot more than seven kilometres across the lake's salt flats.
As the team trekked across the salt flats, 9News footage captured the moment team member Mia Walker raised her arms in triumph and shouted, 'We found a meteorite!'
'I started running and it was so special, I saw this hole in the lake and it only took, you know, just a little tug to pull it out,' Ms Walker said.
'It's very special, it's very exciting to get to find one of these.'
Shortly after their initial discovery, the team struck gold again, uncovering a second fragment not far from the first.
Among the finds was a significant chunk of space rock, one of the largest the team has recovered to date.
'Here's a piece of space rock that's been travelling the solar system for four and a half billion years,' Dr Devillepoix said.
'And now it's in our hands and we can use it for science, that's so exciting.'
He said rain was forecast and the salt flats could be submerged 'in a matter of days.'
'That could have been lost forever,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
32 minutes ago
- ABC News
This plaque near a Canberra shopping centre car park offers a window into a family's tragic war story
There are little clues scattered throughout Canberra — a plaque here, a street sign there — pointing to a tragic story of a family that helped forge the nation's capital. Easily missed, they tell the story of a migrant family, three brothers and a fateful, tragic month. Englishman Walter Eddison survived a gassing in France during World War I and fighting on the shores of Gallipoli to set up life with his wife, three sons and three daughters on a 750-acre block on what was then the outskirts of Canberra in 1919. Anthony Hill, historian and author of For the Love of Country which retells the family's tale, said Canberra at that time was still sheep grazing country. "Canberra was just a beginning settlement — a population of only a few thousand. Just as the Eddisons were arriving did work really start," he said. But the outbreak of World War II would pause the growth of the capital and draw in the Eddison family. The three sons left the farm to fight in the war: Tom and Keith as pilots, Jack with the 2/20th Battalion. In 1941, the family received news that Tom was missing — possibly dead — after being shot down returning from a raid over Germany. Mr Hill said the Eddisons couldn't find out any information. Finally, in May 1943, the family received confirmation that Tom had been killed and was buried in the Netherlands. About the same time, the Canberra Times reported Keith was involved in "[giving] one of the severest hammerings this Japanese-occupied land has yet had". Just a fortnight later, days after Tom's death was confirmed, Keith was killed in New Guinea. It was at this time the family also received written correspondence from Jack — a prisoner of war (POW) in the Japanese Naoetsu camp after the fall of Singapore. The letter gave the family hope Jack would one day return. "Right through 1943, '44 and '45, they were waiting for Jack to come home," Mr Hill said. "[They thought], 'When Jack comes back, he'll fix the farm'." But they didn't receive any more correspondence. That letter, received in May 1943, would be the last. Mr Hill said after the news that two of his sons were dead and the other was in a POW camp, Mr Eddison refused to answer the telephone. He couldn't deal with more bad news. Mr Eddison was working out in a paddock when it rang in 1945. "Jack wasn't coming home. "You can imagine the devastating news." Jack Eddison had died of pneumonia on June 17, 1943, — just a fortnight after Keith had been killed. Mr Hill said the family's story showed "the real nature of war". "It was a great tragedy, but they were a stoic, brave family and they carried on," he said. The brothers' niece, Wendy Townley, grew up always feeling like she knew the uncles she had been too young to remember — from the photos on the walls, and the things they'd left behind. "They were part of the family," she said. "This is Jack's horse and Jack's dog and Tom's bed. They were talked about a lot." Yet her grandfather, Walter, never talked about his sons or the war. Ms Townley said she never quite understood as a child just what a tragedy it was. "But you don't ask questions as a kid. I wish I'd asked more about it. "I don't think it really dawned on me how really horrible it was until I had kids of my own and thought, 'Hell, how could you live with that?'. "My grandmother was so strong. She was my hero." Nowadays, the family homestead, called Yamba, has been replaced with a shopping centre. A plaque near the car park is the only remnant it existed at all. There are other tributes to the brothers, too. Mr Hill said the Eddison name was remembered in all sorts of places. "[Canberra] was named after people," he said. There's Yamba Drive, Eddison Park in Woden, and a plaque in St John's Church on the pew where Ms Townley and her family used to sit. "It's lovely the family are remembered," she said. When Ms Townley's brother sat down to start grade six at Canberra Grammar School — the school has a house called Eddison — he looked down to see the name 'Keith Eddison' carved into his desk. What many would have discarded as no more than schoolyard graffiti was just another little clue pointing to a most tragic history. "We're all very proud of the name."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Gippsland communities fear erosion protection not coping with rising tides
Protective works paid for by the state government to shelter the coastline of southern Gippsland have failed in the wake of recent abnormal tidal activity. It has spurred renewed calls for permanent protective works to prevent further erosion, with some residents terrified that rising water could submerge their homes. Almost 150 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club has been battling creeping coastal erosion for years. A 70-metre geotextile container wall was built in Inverloch in 2020 for $450,000. But sand erosion has since spread behind the wall and encroached on the clubhouse. Sand dunes abutting the clubhouse were hammered by abnormally high tidal water in late May. The water rose close to 3 metres throughout the week, breaking past a temporary fence installed to help prevent further erosion. Surf lifesaving club president Glenn Arnold said a stronger wall was the long-term solution. "If you're asking me, and I know this is a contentious issue, I'm saying throw rocks at it," he said. "It's not a wall, it's an ingress. "So it's protecting the dunes, backfilling behind the ingress into the ocean to allow more sand to collect." Mr Arnold said a wall made of rocks would be more suited to the area. "They're cost efficient, they're environmentally friendly, they're aesthetically pleasing, more so than ugly manufactured sandbags," he said. Member for Bass, Jordan Crugnale, said the Bass Coast Shire Council and the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action (DEECA) were monitoring both areas with designs to repair and extend the geotextile wall. A call for tenders has been put out for the reconstruction project. When asked if there was a need for stronger coastal erosion mitigation works, Ms Crugnale said the government was being directed by experts and science. Further along the coastline at Phillip Island, a $565,000 rock bag wall installed in April to protect residential properties in Silverleaves has failed to protect the beach. Residents watched as the wall of mesh bags filled with rocks struggled to fight the surge of rising high tides. Seawater has swept up behind the bags, cutting into the shoreline. Cowes resident and member of the Silverleaves Conservation Association, Will Dwyer, said a lot of sand and trees had been lost. "We've lost a number of banksia trees that have come down, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop." Rather than block the tide, Mr Dwyer said the rock bags had shifted the problem further down the beach. He said residents were frustrated and tired of fighting for a solution. "This has been going on for years. We've been fighting for years to get something to happen, and in that time we've lost 18 to 20 metres of foreshore," he said. "We're just concerned that it took years for them to do what they've done. "If it's going to take another couple of years, we're just going to keep losing foreshore until Silverleaves becomes inundated." A spokesperson for Bass Coast Shire Council said contractors would reinstate sand at both ends of the Inverloch sandbag wall this week. In March, the Victorian government announced more than $17 million in funding to address coastal erosion, safety risks and access issues across the state's most vulnerable sections of coastline, from Warrnambool to Lakes Entrance. A DEECA spokesperson said the government would continue to work with the council to monitor coastal hazards. Community members can have their say on the Engage Victoria website before June 8.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Best bets and value play for Geelong races Thursday
News Corp form analyst Brad Waters looks at Thursday's meeting at Geelong. BEST BET PURVEYOR (Race 7 No.2): Purveyor got home hard against the pattern at Cranbourne first-up. He'll be much fitter and should relish the bigger Geelong circuit. NEXT BEST DIVINE PROVENANCE (Race 2 No.3): The Lonhro colt has done everything right at the jumpouts leading up to his debut. Expecting him to take that form to the races. GOVERNOR KING (Race 8 No.2): The Henry Dwyer-trained galloper has improved with every run this time in and won a recent jumpout at Ballarat. He'll go well again over 1700m. VALUE BET DIAMOND WAR (Race 9 No.12): Diamond War steps up in class but is racing well without having the best of luck. He's drawn to have the right run and is a great each-way chance. THE JOCKEY JOHN ALLEN Jockey John Allen heads to Geelong for eight rides on Thursday. WESTERN LEGEND (Race 1 No.9 – $26), SUSSEX DUCHESS (Race 2 No. 14 – $23), WILLIE SUNSHINE (Race 3 No.18 – $26), FIORA (Race 4 No.14 – $26), MY ANGEL SHELL (Race 5 No.3 – $5), NORTHERN BARRAGE (Race 6 No.15 – $17), GOVERNOR KING (Race 8 No.2 – $6.50), CAPITAL ASSET (Race 9 No.5 – $6.50). Originally published as Best bets and value play for Geelong races Thursday
