‘Fireball’ gives munro-baggers chance to collect meteorite fragments for first time in 100 years
Race against time to recover ‘time capsule’ meteorite fragments
- Hillwalkers in Scotland have a very exciting opportunity to find fragments of a meteor that streaked across the sky in the early hours of Thursday, 3 July.
- The UK Fireball Alliance has tracked the meteor's path, suggesting fragments, some weighing up to 10 kilograms, may have fallen over areas like Stob Coire, Easain, Chno Dearg, and Ben Alder.
- Researchers, including Professor Luke Daly and Dr Aine O’Brien from the University of Glasgow, are urging the public to help locate these meteorites, as they are crucial for understanding the early Solar System.
- Meteorites are described as black, shiny, almost glassy, heavy for their size, and potentially rusty; prompt recovery is vital as they degrade quickly in Earth's atmosphere.
- Anyone finding a fragment is asked to photograph it, note its GPS location, and report it to the UK Fireball Alliance, with the last meteorite recovered in Scotland being in 1917.