Walkers and hikers have an exciting opportunity to find meteorite fragments that scattered over Scotland this summer, scientists say.
The bright meteor was witnessed by some Scots as it streaked across the sky in the early hours of Thursday July 3.
It is believed to have exploded over northern Scotland, with the ‘fall zone’ straddling Loch Treig in Lochaber, Highland.
The aerial event was captured on some cameras and shared on social media, showing a big yellow spark soaring through the dark sky.
Now, members of the public are being tasked to look for the fragments, which should appear ‘black, glassy and shiny’.
Meteorites – rocks from outer space and have fallen to the surface of a planet – may have delivered essential compounds facilitating the evolution of life as we know it.
Professor Luke Daly, a planetary geoscientist and space rock hunter at the University of Glasgow, called them ‘time capsules of the early solar system’.
‘They hold a wealth of information about how our solar system formed and developed,’ he said.
‘Black, glassy and shiny’: This indoor pictures shows the type of space rock that the team expect this July meteorite to be, which is a type called an ordinary chondrite
July 3: The aerial event being captured on some cameras and shared on social media, showing a big yellow spark soaring through the dark sky
‘This is a very exciting opportunity to learn more about where this rock came from and where it has been and fill in a bit more of the jigsaw of our solar system’s history.’
Researchers at the UK Fireball Alliance have tracked the path of the meteor and say fragments could be scatted in several Highlands locations.
Pieces weighing up to 100 grams were dropped on the west as it travelled across Stob Coire, Easain and Chno Dearg, before larger chunks up to 10 kilograms fell over Ben Alder.
The Ben Alder site potentially has the greatest chance of a discovery, where exposed granite on the plateau could make the dark meteorite rock more visible.
Professor Daly recently led a search party to Ben Alder, along with Dr Aine O’Brien, space scientist also at the University of Glasgow.
But the team of 14 volunteers had to cut their efforts short before they could recover any of the meteorite fragments due to bad weather.
‘We’re asking hillwalkers to keep an eye out for rocks which stand out from everything around them,’ Dr O’Brien said.
‘Meteorites are black and shiny with an almost glassy appearance, and they are heavy for their size.
‘Since it could be about 30 per cent iron, it may also look slightly rusty after all the rain we’ve had recently.’
The meteorite’s suspected ‘fall zone’ is straddling Loch Treig in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland
Pictured, fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite – a class of meteorite called a carbonaceous chondrite and the last to be found in the UK
In 2021, Professor Daly led the team which recovered the largest intact fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite, the first of its kind to be retrieved on UK soil in nearly 30 years.
‘We know from intensive analysis of the Winchcombe samples that meteorites are very quickly affected by contact with the Earth’s atmosphere.
‘The longer these pieces sit out on the Scottish hills, the more they will be weathered and the less we’ll be able to tell about their composition.
‘The clock is very much ticking on our chances to learn as much as we can from these rocks, so any help that hillwalkers can give us could make all the difference.’
If someone is lucky enough to bag a meteorite while bagging a Munro, they are asked to take a photo and take a note of their GPS location and send it to the UK Fireball Alliance.
‘If it’s small enough to be picked up, please try not to handle it directly,’ Dr O’Brien said.
‘Wrapping it in aluminium foil or a clean sandwich bag would be very helpful.
‘If it’s too big to carry, the GPS location will help us recover it later.’
Meteorite that fell in a sheep field in Winchcombe on February 28, 2021, on display at the Natural History Museum in London
Jamie Shepherd of the UK Meteor Network said any find would be ‘history-making’, as the last time a meteorite was recovered in Scotland was December 1917.
Known as the Strathmore meteorite, it was seen as bright ball soaring through the skies, witnessed by people from County Durham to Aberdeenshire.
The fireball passed overhead then hit the ground and exploded, scattering the meteorite into four pieces across Coupar Angus and Blairgowrie in Perthshire.
The Strathmore meteorite – the largest ever recorded in Scotland – was recovered in four fragments, one of which is at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
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