If a shot star makes it all the way to Earth , you get a meteorite . These rocks are important in helping us understand how the jumpy torso in the solar system form , but finding these object is not always promiscuous . Therefore ,   researchers at Curtin University are certainly excited to have find two in a thing of two week .

The fall   were both enchant by the Desert Fireball internet ( DFN ) , which uses photographic camera across Australia to observe when shooting star enter the atm and to predict where bits of them might land . The team usually seek for meteorite from March to October , but the hunting season had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic .   Just as restrictions lifted , a fireball was seen across the sky . Astronomer Dr Hadrien Devillepoix and wandering geologist Dr Anthony Lagain visited   the sphere near Madura to reconnoitre it   with a drone and bumble on the outer space John Rock on the way back to the cable car .

“ I thought Anthony was encounter a prank on me , that he plant one of the fake meteorites we were using for the drone training school term . But after a nigh inspection , it was evident that the fist - sized , 1.1 - kilogram [ 2.4 - pound ] rock we just found was indeed the meteorite we were after , ” Dr Devillepoix said in astatement .

Thanks to the DFN , researchers were capable to find the rock-and-roll and operate out its orbit before it reach our major planet .   The careen , as it turn out , was part of the Aten family of body , which   get over Earth ’s compass but often   drop most of their time closer to the orbit of Venus .

The 2nd aim was found two workweek later , when Dr Martin Towner led a   six - person team to search for a meteorite that fell on November 18 , 2019 . The location of the potential space rock was estimated to be   North - West of Forrest airport in the midsection of the Nullarbor Plain .   The 300 - gram rock was let on after four hour of search . The researchers reckon that it originated from the in-between part of the primary asteroid swath . The team is now at work analyzing these rocks to find out more .

“ Teams around the human race have been render to recoup meteorites with area since the 1950s , but so far only around 40 have been recovered overall , and although the DFN is comparatively new in this game , it already accounts for a significant part of this success , ” Dr Eleanor Sansom , projection manager of the DFN , resolve .