Latest news with #DesertFireballNetwork
ABC News
15 hours ago
- Science
- ABC News
Seekers come up short in hunt for meteor seen in central Victorian night sky
Researchers are "disappointed" after a meteorite muster returned meagre results, but say they will continue to scour the area for space treasure. A group of five scientists took to paddocks near Dunolly in central Victoria on Tuesday combing the area after the meteor fell to Earth the night of August 10. The spectacular event lit up the night sky across the region and created sonic booms that rattled houses, with reports of the rare sight flooding social media in the aftermath. Monash University researchers formed line searches across four properties this week, ultimately coming up empty-handed. Determined planetary geologists and the lead meteorite geochemist for the Desert Fireball Network, Rachel Kirby, said the show was not over yet. "[We'll do some more] land searches. We're trying to tee up if we could get a drone." The Desert Fireball Network (DFN) is made up of cameras across the country, primarily in the southern states, to track meteors as they fall. The network includes 50 fully autonomous digital observatories that continually monitor 3 million square kilometres of the sky at night. It was through the DFN that Dr Kirby and her team were able to pinpoint where it fell. "Then what happens is we are able to use the data from these really specialised cameras to triangulate where it likely fell on the ground," Dr Kirby said. "Because obviously what you see in the sky is very different from what you find on the ground. And what happens when — or if — the researchers find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Dr Kirby said the small hunk of space rock could reveal some of the secrets of the universe. "We will do scans of the entire rock — things like its shape and density and what it's like on the inside — and then we will break it open and sample the inside and start to really understand how and where it formed," Dr Kirby said. Michael Brown is an observational astronomer at Monash University and was eager to join the hunt for the meteorite. "I'm an astronomer so normally I get to see things from really far away. But, if I'm lucky, I might get to see [this one] close up," Mr Brown said. "Often, like a lot of people, the work is analysing the data on the computer. So being out here and connecting with space and astronomy is really, really fun." When asked what he would want the meteorite to reveal, if found and tested, Mr Brown reminisced about the early days of his career. "I think, harking back to my research of meteorites from when I was a student, helping crack open how bits of material move around in our solar system would be particularly exciting," Mr Brown said. Three Monash Unviersity students took up the call for adventure and joined Dr Kirby and Mr Brown in their hunt for the meteorite. Arnika Filippi and Amelia Phillips are both science undergraduates at Monash University who said the field hunt was a valuable experience. "Learning out in the field is so much better. It's so much easier, you really get that in-field experience," Ms Filippi said. "They're space rocks, that's so cool," Ms Phillips said. Joshua De Almeida is undertaking a masters in science and said the group was not deterred by the still-hidden meteorite. "You can learn about this stuff in a book but actually finding it in the field — I have a greater appreciation for the systems that have been in place to get us here," Mr De Almeida said. "It's so many people coming together to make all this possible. The search will continue."
West Australian
27-05-2025
- Science
- West Australian
‘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. The meteorite fragments will now undergo detailed analysis in a laboratory to determine their composition and pinpoint their origin in the solar system.
West Australian
19-05-2025
- Science
- West Australian
Ravensthorpe police officers finds Mother's Day meteor 460km east of Perth in Goldfields salt lake
The meteor that lit up the skies over Western Australia in the early hours of Mother's Day has been located in the Goldfields by an amateur meteorite searcher and police officer. The meteor — dubbed the Mother's Day meteor — flew through the skies on May 11, just before sunrise, catching eyes with bursts of orange and green light. Reports of the object spanned much of the State, with the brightest reports and vision from the Wheatbelt and Goldfields regions. Six days later, the meteorite was found in the Goldfields south of the Breakaways, 460km east of Perth. It was found thanks to calculations from the Desert Fireball Network — a group of meteorite researchers from Curtin University — and the willpower of Ravensthorpe police officer Marcus Scott who reached it first on foot as the researchers separately flew overhead. Mr Scott drove two hours to the potential site after seeing media reports of the meteor and seeing the estimated landing area. His search lasted nearly four hours after trudging through dense bushland, and it wasn't until he had just turned back to beat nightfall that he struck gold. Mr Scott said he had been looking for meteorites for the past three years, and while he has found many in the past, none were quite as exciting as this one. 'It was good, I mean there was no dancing or anything but certainly I was aware of its importance,' he said. 'I'm aware that not a lot of people get to find what are referred to as falls, meteorites that have been witnessed when they're coming in. 'I was aware of its importance and I'm happy to find a bit.' The fact it was in a salt lake made the search easier as looking for an indent in the surface was a telltale sign, Mr Scott said. 'The fireball scientists put their estimate of where it was, I noted that most of it went through salt lake country which makes finding meteorites quite easy,' he said. 'Getting there was a struggle, very overgrown bush but once you're out on the salt lakes it makes it a bit easier when you're looking for something that's punched a hole in the salt lake crust.' The meteorite is expected to be collected for study so researchers can classify it and find out where it came from'
Perth Now
19-05-2025
- Science
- Perth Now
Excitement as WA Police officer finds Mother's Day meteor
The meteor that lit up the skies over Western Australia in the early hours of Mother's Day has been located in the Goldfields by an amateur meteorite searcher and police officer. The meteor — dubbed the Mother's Day meteor — flew through the skies on May 11, just before sunrise, catching eyes with bursts of orange and green light. Reports of the object spanned much of the State, with the brightest reports and vision from the Wheatbelt and Goldfields regions. A police officer has found the first sample of a meteorite that blazed across WA skies a week ago. Credit: Marcus Scott Six days later, the meteorite was found in the Goldfields south of the Breakaways, 460km east of Perth. It was found thanks to calculations from the Desert Fireball Network — a group of meteorite researchers from Curtin University — and the willpower of Ravensthorpe police officer Marcus Scott who reached it first on foot as the researchers separately flew overhead. Mr Scott drove two hours to the potential site after seeing media reports of the meteor and seeing the estimated landing area. His search lasted nearly four hours after trudging through dense bushland, and it wasn't until he had just turned back to beat nightfall that he struck gold. Mr Scott said he had been looking for meteorites for the past three years, and while he has found many in the past, none were quite as exciting as this one. 'It was good, I mean there was no dancing or anything but certainly I was aware of its importance,' he said. 'I'm aware that not a lot of people get to find what are referred to as falls, meteorites that have been witnessed when they're coming in. 'I was aware of its importance and I'm happy to find a bit.' Mr Scott said the indent into the land as well as the dark colouration of the rock were giveaways it was a meteorite. Credit: Marcus Scott The fact it was in a salt lake made the search easier as looking for an indent in the surface was a telltale sign, Mr Scott said. 'The fireball scientists put their estimate of where it was, I noted that most of it went through salt lake country which makes finding meteorites quite easy,' he said. 'Getting there was a struggle, very overgrown bush but once you're out on the salt lakes it makes it a bit easier when you're looking for something that's punched a hole in the salt lake crust.' The meteorite is expected to be collected for study so researchers can classify it and find out where it came from'
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Meteorite that lit up WA's skies found by police officer, Desert Fireball Network
A country police officer has won the race to recover a meteorite that lit up the skies over southern Western Australia. It's believed the astronomical anomaly dubbed the Mother's Day Meteorite entered the atmosphere over the Central Wheatbelt about 6am on May 11, travelling south. A team of scientists from Curtin University's Desert Fireball Network (DFN), who track meteors across Australia, mapped its trajectory, estimating the impact point just south of the Breakaways, 460 kilometres east of Perth in the state's Goldfields. DFN director Eleanor Sansom and her team was in the sky over the crash site when the discovery was made. "I wasn't quite sure we would see anything, but we pretty quickly came across a few exciting suspects," she said. "We circled around, and there were two or three spots on the lake that we were pretty sure were meteorites in the lake. "Then we saw someone out on one of the lakes, scouting around, and we thought, 'Oh, wow, someone has actually gone out to search.' "That's the person who found one yesterday." The man on the ground was Ravensthorpe police officer and amateur meteorite hunter Marcus Scott. Mr Scott, who has found dozens of meteorites on the Nullarbor, was thrilled when he learnt the meteorite may have fallen in his backyard. After a two-hour drive and scramble through dense bush, Mr Scott reached the salt lake and quickly found what he was looking for. "It's a very easy place to find a meteorite, especially if it's recent, like this one, only being seven days since it fell," he said. "The weather has been pretty good out there, so you're going to see the impact on the salt lake and it will stand out. "This was in an open area and quite easy to spot, but the kangaroo prints and the emu prints from a distance also look like a meteorite impact. "So you can find yourself wasting a lot of time chasing after them." Mr Scott estimated the space rock to be about the size of a tennis ball, weighing about 450 grams. And while not a thing of beauty, he said the Mother's Day Meteorite was one of his most special finds. "There are some very nice meteorites that land on Earth, but I wouldn't rank this as a thing of beauty. "It's more of a thing of interest. "It's only been there for seven days compared to thousands of years, and that makes it a bit more special. While other meteorites he has found have "terrestrial weathering", this one looks "a lot more like what a meteorite should look like". "So I would say it's definitely something worth finding," Mr Scott said. The discovery of the first sample has not stopped Dr Sansom and her team, whose aerial reconnaissance had indicated other samples still to be recovered. "We spotted three potential sites and [Mr Scott's rock] was one of them, then there are probably two more," she said. "When it came through [the atmosphere] there were lots of bright flashes, and every time there's a bright flash, that means the rocks fragmented. "This is going to have quite a lot of little pieces of material … what we call a strewn field. "I think this one's going to be quite a special rock, and if it is, it will be incredible to get as much of it as we can."
