Where to find meteorites in australia
As he wandered along to meet John, Paul's metal-detector suddenly started emitting a strong sound. Paul called John and asked him to come and help.
The pair dug for two hours until they eventually encountered the rock. Covered in dirt, it did not look like anything special, but they knew it had to be unusual. I don't know what we've got here'," Paul said. We knew it was more than an ordinary stone. When the pair finally got around to taking their find to Geoscience Australia to be examined, the reaction was instant. The romance of a shooting star seen from earth is far removed from the actual, violent event of a meteor burning up as it enters the atmosphere.
Most disintegrate upon entry, but some are big enough to survive the long journey to the ground and hit the earth's surface. John and Paul had been out that day looking for gold, but what they had actually stumbled upon was a very rare iron-nickel meteorite, which scientists believe may have come from the edge of the metal core of a former asteroid 4. It is one of only six officially confirmed, named and classified in the world and the only one to have been found in Australia.
Four of the others were found in Antarctica and the fifth is held in the USA. The meteorite John and Paul found is also the largest of the six — weighing in at He said the meteorite would assist researchers in understanding more about the solar system.
Occasionally, asteroids and meteoroids are disturbed, by colliding with other rocks, and are sent out of the asteroid belt and, sometimes, towards Earth. A meteoroid or an asteroid is called a meteor when its travelling through our atmosphere, flashing bright. Once it lands, the pieces that makes it to the ground are called meteorites. Big asteroids have hit Earth, like the 12km-wide asteroid that probably killed the dinosaurs, but that is not likely to happen again anytime soon.
The shooting stars that you can see at night are likely meteors, but they are probably too small to leave behind a meteorite. The bigger meteors, which appear as much brighter, bigger shooting stars, or fireballs, are more likely to survive some of the entry, breaking up into pieces that scatter and land on the ground as meteorites.
They are still extremely rare material of the solar system," Professor Benedix says. No one place is more likely than any other to have a meteor will break up and leave meteorites there, but it is much easier to find a meteorite in some places than others. Some land in the ocean, or in other places that are difficult to access or search, like thick rainforests.
There is one place where scientists who study space rocks love to hunt: Antarctica. That's because if they find a black rock in Antarctica, they can pretty much guarantee that it is a meteorite. And a black rock among a lot of white ice is very easy to spot. But while trips to look for space rocks in Antarctica are a little hard to organise, there are some places that are better for meteorite hunting.
It'll be easier to find a meteorite on the ground if the surface is smooth, flat and not already covered in black rocks. It's definitely worth investigating your own backyard or local park — even better if that area is bare or empty. While meteorites are rare, they are out there! If you think your rock is a meteorite — or even just a meteor-maybe — send a photo to the team at the Desert Fireball Network , for a meteorite expert to have a look. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
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