France’s ranks of amateur astronomers have been urged to help find an apricot-size meteorite that fell to Earth last weekend in the south-west of the country.
The rock, estimated to weigh 150 grams (just over five ounces), was captured plunging through the atmosphere by cameras at an astronomy education facility in Mauraux, and landed at exactly 10.43pm on Saturday near Aiguillon, about 100km (62 miles) from Bordeaux.
The site is part of the Vigie-Ciel (Sky Watch) project of around 100 cameras in the Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON), which aims to detect and collect the 10 or so meteorites that fall on France each year.
“Meteorites are relics of the solar system’s creation, with the benefit of never being exposed to the elements,” said Mickael Wilmart of the A Ciel Ouvert (Open Sky) astronomy education association that operates the Mauraux observatory.
“A fresh meteorite like this, which fell just a few days ago, hasn’t been altered by the Earth’s environment and therefore contains very precious information for scientists,” he said.
The search is already underway but calls for help have been issued on social media, and posters have been put up in areas where the rock is most likely to have fallen.
But Wilmart acknowledged that the chances of success were slim.
“It’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack,” he said. “We’re really counting on people to look in their gardens, or along the side of the road, they might just stumble on this rock that’s wanted so badly.”
If you’re looking for an out-of-this-world gift this Valentine’s Day, an auction house is offering up rare meteorite chunks from the moon, Mars and beyond — for as little as $250.
In an online sale beginning Tuesday, February 9, Christie’s auction house is auctioning off 72 meteorites — solid pieces of debris from celestial objects like comets and asteroids that arrive on Earth as shooting stars, somehow managing to survive their journey through our atmosphere to land on the surface.
“The weight of every known meteorite is less than the world’s annual output of gold, and this sale offers spectacular examples for every collector, available at estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the auction house wrote on its website.
Included in the collection is a meteorite containing 7 billion-year-old stardust, space gems encased in iron and the fourth-largest slice of the moon. A large chunk of Martian rock, worth an estimated $30,000 to $50,000, holds bubbles of the planet’s atmosphere trapped inside.
“The Most Beautiful Extraterrestrial Substance Known — End piece of the Fukang Meteorite.” Estimate: $3,500 – 4,500.
Christie’s
According to Christie’s, there are a dozen samples from the moon and Mars, and another dozen previously housed by famous museums around the world.
“Everyone has an image in mind of how a meteorite ‘should look’ – an extraterrestrial body frictionally heated while punching through Earth’s atmosphere,” James Hyslop, head of science and natural history for Christie’s, said in a statement. “Rarely do the objects survive this fiery descent look like that shared ideal seen in this meteorite. It is a wonder to behold and an honor to have been entrusted with its sale.”
One object in the collection never hit the ground — a young boy in Morocco found the meteorite in the branches of a tree a day after a meteor shower — it’s worth an estimated $15,000 to $25,000. Yet another hailed from the U.S.’ largest meteorite shower in Odessa, Texas, expecting to fetch $40,000 to $60,000.
“If there was ever a time to be awed by the infiniteness of the night sky, we’re living in it, but if you want to inspire and see eyes widen — touch a meteorite,” said curator Darryl Pitt.
The auction house said that one of the highlights of the sale is a 16-pound “highly aesthetic oriented stone meteorite,” estimated to sell for $50,000 to $80,000.
“Unlike 99% of all other meteorites, this meteorite did not tumble or invert as it plunged to Earth but maintained a stable orientation throughout its descent,” the auction house said. “The surface that faced Earth showcases elongated flight marks that radiate outwards in this compelling, extraterrestrial aerodynamic form.”
The meteorites have been found all over the world, from the Sahara Desert to Chile to Russia.
The “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites” auction runs until February 23, and interested buyers located in New York can see them in person, by appointment.
Social media was ablaze with wild speculation about a fallen meteorite which had allegedly landed in the playground of a school in Far North Queensland, with NASA reportedly called in to investigate. But all was not as it seemed.
A slew of anecdotes and theories emerged online, as people rushed to find out more information. It didn’t take long, however, for the amateur astronomers to be somewhat underwhelmed to discover the true, far more mundane origins of the ‘space rock’.
“We have had all sorts of inquiries from all around the world,” said Malanda State School principal Mark Allen, before breaking the real news that the viral meteorite strike in its playground was actually a school project.
Allen described the exercise as a “bit of fun” in which students at the school were asked to “report” on a meteorite landing as part of an assignment which tasked them with interviewing witnesses and emergency services at the scene, with someone reportedly deciding to take the initiative and bring the case all the way to NASA.
“The local police loved to get involved for the school and the kids to make it more realistic,” local resident Daniel Moss explained. “This is a small town, they didn’t expect it [the school project] to go viral.”
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