Tuesday 05 / November / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism announced the monitoring of the first meteorite sample documented to have entered the airspace of the Sultanate of Oman.
The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism announced the monitoring of the first meteorite sample documented to have entered the airspace of the Sultanate of Oman in cooperation with the Natural History Museum in Bern, Switzerland, Curtin University in Australia, and technical support from the Oman Telecommunications Company 'Omantel'.
Meteorite monitoring devices were able to determine the geographical location of the meteorite (two samples weighing 8.2 grams and 13.8 grams), and calculate the path of fall, which made it easier for the Omani-Swiss scientific team to reach the sample quickly.
The Ministry has completed the stage of chemical analyses and the study of the correlation between data from monitoring devices and analysis of short-lived radioactive isotopes of meteorites (manganese element 54 and sodium 22) in a specialised scientific laboratory at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Examining the meteorite samples through optical and microelectronic microscopy was also carried out at the University of Freiburg. The results of the tests proved that the meteorites found were indeed recently fallen meteorites, and they were the same meteorites monitored through the devices.
The monitoring, calculations, analysis and study of modern meteorite data are working under the supervision of astronomers and meteorologists to reach the details of the meteorite and know the extent to which it was affected by climatic factors before it entered the Earth’s airspace in addition to knowing the precise details about the meteorite’s path and its source in outer space. The study also makes it possible to measure how much the meteorite was affected by various factors, such as erosion and oxidation, after it entered the atmosphere and settled on Earth.
The type of meteorite was classified as (breccia H5-6), and it was officially named “Al-Khadhaf” regarding its fall in the Al-Khadhaf location in the Wilayat of Thumrait. The analysis results showed that the meteorite's source was from the inner part of the asteroid belt, which is located between the two planets Mars and Jupiter.
The Al-Khadhaf meteorite is the first meteorite found by meteorite monitoring devices in the Sultanate of Oman. It is also the smallest mass found among 40 meteorite falls monitored by meteorite monitoring devices worldwide. This achievement is evidence of the possibility of searching and finding observed meteorites using modern technology in the Sultanate of Oman.
