Fireball crashes into Morawa paddock

Curtin University researchers have retrieved a meteorite from a paddock in Morawa.

The 1.15kg space rock fell to earth on Halloween night, around 8pm on October 31.

Thanks to information from the public through the Fireballs in the Sky app, and images captured by four Desert Fireball Network cameras Curtin’s team was quickly alerted to the situation and Professor Phil Bland and Dr Martin Tower drove out to the area to begin knocking on doors.

By Sunday November 6 a full search team was scanning the projected fall area, and by Monday morning they had recovered the object.

Thanks to the public assistance the rock was recovered before it could be affected by rain, meaning it could still contain salts which would give clues to the origin of water in our solar system.

Analysis has now begun on the meteorite, with more details to announced on Monday November 21.