Devices distributed to monitor fall of meteorites in deserts

Muscat: A field survey project aimed at monitoring the fall of meteorites has been implemented by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. As part of the project, monitoring devices were distributed at various desert sites in the Sultanate of Oman.

The project has been undertaken in cooperation with a specialised team of scientists from the University of Bern and the Natural History Museum in Bern, Switzerland, with technical support from Curtin University, Australia.

Hussein Ali Al Ghafri, Director of Heritage Department at the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, said that the project was carried out this year in a number of stages, the first stage of which was an experimental period for monitoring meteorites that enter Oman’s atmosphere.

Al Ghafri pointed out that the ministry has been working for over 23 years on the documentation of the annual meteorite fall in Oman. So far, more than 7,000 meteorite pieces have been documented, he added.

A number of geologists visit Oman on an annual basis to study the fall of meteorites, including some from Mars (grey in colour) and Jupiter (brown), in addition to another type of celestial bodies that consist of chondrite rock.

These meteorites allow scientists to know the original composition of the parent planets. They gain geological, scientific and economic value.