A group of keen citizen scientists, known as Fireballs Aotearoa, have discovered the country’s 10th meteorite in the picturesque Mackenzie Country, located in the South Island. This space rock made its dramatic entrance into Earth’s atmosphere at an incredible speed, catching the eye of Dennis Behan from Queenstown, while he was enjoying a relaxing moment.
The discovery adventure began early in the morning, with about 20 searchers venturing south of Lake Tekapo, eager to find the meteorite. Their effort paid off even before the official search started, leading to celebrations at a local pub.
Steve Wyn-Harris, one of the dedicated Fireballs Aotearoa members, shared the thrilling experience. Despite expecting a tough search across a vast area, luck was on their side when volunteer Jack Weterings noticed the unusual stone, which stood out among the rest due to its distinctive dark color and embedded position in a small crater.
The team, with geologist Marshall Palmer’s expertise, confirmed the rock’s unique composition, rich in nickel, indicating its likely extraterrestrial origin. The meteorite is now on its way to Otago University for further examination, with the team almost certain of its spacey backstory.
In a generous exchange, Jack Weterings, who first spotted the meteorite, received a special camera to continue his sky-watching adventures.
very interesting
I loved reading it because, I never knew that maybe chocolate might be gone in the future!
save the chocolate…
I enjoyed this reading because
it show what climate changes does!!
they might have to move most chocolate into a colder place, since the climate clock is getting low
so temperature might get higher.
i love chocolate
I’m allergic to dairy, but this makes me sad for my best friends all around NZ (don’t think it’s weird because I actually do). And my chocolate loving cousin, her name is Dana (I’m from South Korea and she told me how to spell her name in Korean but its not pronounced like Dana).
I know that there are chocolate lovers around the world so, poor them or if you like chocolate poor you (even though I’m allergic to dairy, or to make it easy dairy products: cheese, milk, butter etc).