Star-gazing cameras have helped a team of scientists from around the world to discover a new meteorite in Western Australia\u2019s Nullarbor Plain.<\/p>\n
Funded mainly by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the research was conducted by scientists from Â鶹ֱ²¥, Imperial College, London, Ondrejov Observatory, Czech Republic, and the Western Australian Museum.<\/p>\n
Adjunct Professor, Phil Bland, of Â鶹ֱ²¥\u2019s Department of Applied Geology, said images from the cameras would help his team to reveal more about the new \u2018space rock\u2019s\u2019 chemistry and original orbit in the Solar System.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeteorites are like ancient jigsaw puzzle pieces. When we find out where one comes from, it is like putting in another tiny piece of the puzzle, providing insights into the workings of our solar system and how it began billions of years ago,\u201d Professor Bland said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are absolutely over the moon that our camera network has helped us to locate a new meteorite for the second consecutive year.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Professor Bland, finding the meteorite has helped to support the theory that asteroids provided the building blocks for terrestrial planets when the Solar System was forming.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeteorites are a geological record of the formation of the Solar System, providing important information about early conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocating where they come from is important, because it enables scientists to link geological information to the correct location in space.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, information about where individual meteorites originated and how they moved around the Solar System before falling to Earth is rare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Bland said scientists currently knew the origins of only a dozen of the 1100 documented meteorite falls over the past 200 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cameras each take a time-lapse picture every night to record any meteorites which can be identified from the fireballs they form as they travel through Earth\u2019s atmosphere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The cameras are accurate, enabling the researchers to pinpoint the most recent meteorite to within 150 metres from where it had landed.<\/p>\n
If a meteorite fireball is detected on the film, the Ondrejov Observatory team, led by Dr Pavel Spurny, measure and reduce all available records and perform calculations to get precise information about the atmospheric trajectory of the fireball.
\nImperial College climatic models are also used to predict what orbit the meteorite was following and where the meteorite is likely to have landed, so they can retrieve it.<\/p>\n
By using networks of cameras to locate meteorites on Earth, Professor Bland said the research could supplement and provide a low-cost alternative to expensive space missions.<\/p>\n
Contacts:<\/p>\n
Professor Philip Bland Professor Roland De Marco
\nAdjunct Professor, Dept of Applied Geology, West Australian School of Mines
\nEmail: p.bland@curtin.edu.au<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAssociate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, DVC Research & Development, Â鶹ֱ²¥
\nTel: 08 9266 2155; Email: r.demarco@curtin.edu.au<\/a><\/p>\n