Extract from ABC News
By Laura
Gartry
Updated about 10 hours ago
Photo:
Curtin University researchers Robert Howie and Phil Bland (L to R)
showed off the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite, thought to be a
chondrite or stony meteorite. (Supplied: Curtin University, Desert
Fireball Network)
A meteorite estimated to be 4.5 billion years old
has been recovered by Perth researchers from a remote part of Lake
Eyre in outback South Australia.
In a race against time, the geologists dug the 1.7
kilogram meteorite out just hours before heavy rains would have wiped
away any trace of it.
The team from Curtin University had been trying to
track the fall site since the meteorite was spotted by locals and
five remote cameras in late November in the William Creek and Marree
areas.
But on New Year's Eve, as
heavy rains brewed a downpour, the team found their needle in a
haystack.
Curtin University team leader Phil Bland hand dug
the meteorite from a 42-centimetre-deep hole in a remote section of
the lake bed just hours before the arrival of heavy rains would have
washed away any remaining clues.
"It was an amazing team effort, we got there
by the skin of our teeth," Professor Bland said.
"It is older than the Earth itself. It's the
oldest rock you'll ever hold in your hand.
"It came to us from beyond the orbit of Mars,
so in between Mars and Jupiter."
The three-day operation to find the meteorite
involved an aerial spotter, a drone, two researchers on a quad bike
and local Aboriginal guides Dean Stuart and Dave Strangways looking
in the sticky clay.
Observations from the air turned out to be
critical as the impact site had deteriorated from rain.
A team in Perth was also working around the clock
to analyse the incoming data from the search area.
Photo:
The meteorite was captured falling towards Lake Eyre by a network of
remote cameras that also helped identify its orbit. (Supplied: Curtin
University, Desert Fireball Network)
'It is a big deal': Cameras identify orbit of meteorite
The meteorite is the first result of a new
observation network of 32 remote cameras across WA and South
Australia.
Called the Desert Fireball Network, the cameras
helped to narrow the search area to a 500 metre line.
Mechatronic engineer Jonathan Paxman said the fall
site of the meteorite was very difficult to access, being more than
six kilometres from a remote part of the lake's edge, and with the
surface quite soft in places due to recent rainfall.
"The fact we have managed to retrieve the
meteorite at all is remarkable," Dr Paxman said.
The fact we have managed to retrieve the meteorite at all is remarkable.
Jonathan Paxman, mechatronic engineer
Professor Bland said the meteorite was thought to
be a chondrite or stony meteorite, providing an example of material
created during the early formation of the solar system more than
4.5-billion-years ago.
The meteorite is also one of only 20 worldwide
with an identified orbit, allowing the team to track it back to its
original asteroid.
"This meteorite is of special significance as
the camera observations used to calculate the fall positions have
also enabled the solar system orbit of the meteorite to be
calculated, giving important contextual information for future
study," Professor Bland said.
"It is a big deal because space agencies like
NASA or JAXA will spend a billion dollars trying to get to an
asteroid and bring a sample back, so potentially we can do it for a
lot less than that."
The researchers have asked the local traditional
owners, the Arabana people, to name the meteorite in their language
after a feature of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.
Meanwhile the team has already identified another
10 crash sites to investigate.
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