An independent camera network set up in the Nullarbor desert is making it possible to track and recover observed meteorite falls, as well as identify their origin in the Solar System.
Associate Professor Alex Bevan, head of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences will be talking about the ‘Australian Desert Fireball Network’ during National Science Week as part of the Western Australian Museum’s 2011 Harry Butler lecture series: In the Wild West.
The All-Sky Desert Fireball Camera Network, established in the Western Australian Nullarbor in 2006, today consists of four satellite-monitored cameras designed to operate in extreme desert conditions. The project is an international collaboration between Imperial College (UK), the Ondřejov Observatory (Czech Republic), the WA Museum and members of the Goldfields community.
Associate Professor Bevan said that of the more than 50,000 meteorites in collections around the world the vast majority are chance finds, with only about 1100 actually observed falling and thus able to be quickly recovered. Of these 1100, only 16 were photographed as they fell.
The cameras take a single time-lapse picture every night to record any fireballs in the sky. This enables the orbits of the objects that gave rise to the meteorites to be calculated, and meteorite fall positions determined for later recovery. The Nullarbor was chosen as an ideal location as it is easy to locate the dark meteorites on the light desert plain.
“The increase in recoveries with known orbits will greatly increase our knowledge of the source regions of meteorites falling to Earth,” Associate Professor Bevan said.
“With this information we may pinpoint where in the asteroid belt the meteorite came from and gain insights into the original building blocks of the planets."
The Network’s first success was the recovery of three fragments of the same meteorite that fell on 20 July 2007. This meteorite, now named Bunburra Rockhole, was the fifth predicted meteorite fall in history and the first instrumentally observed meteorite fall in the southern hemisphere.
Associate Professor Alex Bevan is Head of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the WA Museum, an Honorary Research Fellow at UWA, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Imaging and Applied Physics at Curtin University. Alex’s early research focused on the effects of catastrophic collisions between minor planets during the early history of the Solar System. His wider research interests extend to mineralogy, metallurgy and materials science. At the WA Museum he brings to bear 37 years of research experience.
The Harry Butler lecture series: In the Wild West is proudly presented by the WA Museum in partnership with Chevron Australia. The series showcases the work of Museum scientists, curators and associates in the areas of natural and social sciences.
National Science Week runs from 13–21 August 2011. For more information visit http://www.scienceweek.gov.au
LECTURE: The Australian Desert Fireball Network
WHEN: 5.30pm, Thursday 18 August 2011 and 10.30am, Friday 19 August 2011
WHERE: Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 17 Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL: www.museum.wa.gov.au/inthewildwest
COST: Gold coin donation
Flora Perrella, Western Australian Museum T: 9212 3856 M: 0424027646
