A fireball streaked across New Zealand’s North Island skies last month, prompting members of Fireballs Aotearoa, a network of citizen scientists and geologists, to search for debris. The organization operates approximately 200 cameras nationwide to document meteor activity and aid in meteorite recovery efforts.
Steve Wyn-Harris, director of the group, discovered a thumb-sized black stone on farmland while scouting an area identified through trajectory calculations and wind speed analysis. To verify his find, Wyn-Harris conducted an informal test using a common household fridge magnet during a video call with other researchers. The magnet’s attraction to the rock, indicating the presence of iron and nickel, confirmed the discovery’s authenticity.
Following Wyn-Harris’s initial find, an expanded search team of 11 people conducted a systematic investigation of the calculated impact zone. Over the subsequent 10 days, researchers recovered four meteorite fragments totaling 75 grams. One piece had struck the driveway of a residential property. Liam McGovern, a geology PhD student, located a second fragment weighing 39 grams.
According to trajectory analysis, the meteorite originated from the asteroid belt and is classified as an ordinary chondrite. Dr. Marshall Palmer, a geologist affiliated with Fireballs Aotearoa, will conduct official analysis and assign a formal designation to the recovered fragments. Prof. James Scott, the organization’s founder, noted that the meteorite likely shares a common origin with New Zealand’s first documented meteorite, discovered in the Masterton area in 1863, suggesting both fragments may derive from the same parent asteroid that fragmented early in solar system history.
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