New Zealand Confirms 11th Meteorite After 4 Fragments Totaling 75g Are Found
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 11
New Zealand Confirms 11th Meteorite After 4 Fragments Totaling 75g Are Found
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 11
Summary
Four fragments weighing 75 grams in total were recovered after a 28 July fireball over New Zealand’s North Island, confirming the country’s 11th documented meteorite.
Steve Wyn-Harris found the first 8-gram stone near a riverbank after Fireballs Aotearoa used 200 cameras, flight-path data and wind projections to narrow the search area.
An 11-person team then found three more pieces over 10 days, including a 39-gram fragment discovered by geology PhD student Liam McGovern and one that landed on a house driveway.
Researchers say the meteorite is likely an ordinary chondrite from the asteroid belt; Prof James Scott believes it may share a parent body with a meteorite found near Masterton in 1863.