Specialists carry out an expedition in the commune of La Higuera to search for meteorites associated with a bolide detected by the Fripon Andino camera network

9 December, 2024
Specialists carry out an expedition in the commune of La Higuera to search for meteorites associated with a bolide detected by the Fripon Andino camera network
The group - made up of astronomers, geologists and artists - searched the potential crash site in the Coquimbo region for the rocks, the first detected by the camera network to fall in a location where recovery might be possible.

The expedition took place between December 2 and 5 in the commune of La Higuera, located about 45 km north of La Serena, and although at the time of this publication no meteorite has been recovered, this search sets a precedent for the work carried out by the Fripon Andino camera network. This network, which already has 9 cameras, all-sky From Calama to Puerto Williams in Chile and 2 cameras in Mendoza and the OAFA-Cesco Observatory in Argentina, it detects bolides that enter our atmosphere, tracing their trajectory for the possibility of recovering their remains.

In particular, this is the first detection of a bolide by the network associated with the fall of one (or more) potential meteorites in an area where their recovery is feasible, which is why the formation of a search team made up of representatives from different institutions was activated. “An important but difficult objective to achieve is the effective recovery of the meteorites, after estimating their impact points. However, this particular fall has allowed us to verify that the network is working well and that a search team can be formed in a reasonable time from the date of the fall,” says Millarca Valenzuela, a geologist specializing in meteorites and researcher at the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics and the Catholic University of the North.

The expedition

The expedition included an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional group of experts: Alexandre Corgne, Katalina Vidal, Simón Pérez (UACH), Sebastien Bouquillon (Franco-Chilean Astronomy Laboratory, Observatoire de Paris), Vicente Maldonado (UCHILE), Millarca Valenzuela (UCN, MAS), Eduardo Arancibia (UVALPO), Martín González (UCHILE), Gaëlle de Los Llanos and Ulysse Genevrey (Collectif Sans Attendre – Bourse MIRA, France).

The search was carried out in an area determined by the models of meteoroid falls to Earth, which calculate the atmospheric descent trajectory from the joint images captured by the cameras of the Fripon Andino network. The models were carried out by Hadrien AR Devillepoix (UWO), Denis Vida (Curtin University) and Simon Jeanne (Observatoire de Paris). With this information it was possible to generate the map of the most probable area of ​​fall, which in this case was 15 km long by 400 m wide (6 square km). This large probable impact area is the result of the very low angle of inclination of the bolide's fall with respect to the horizon and the effect of falling against the wind at the time of its entry, which is very rare. During the so-called dark flight, once the luminous phenomenon of the bolide has ended, a meteoroid can break into several pieces, the smallest falling first, more easily slowed down by the wind, while the most massive ones manage to advance a little further in their fall.

The search area

The fireball was observed by the network on November 12 at 00:27:46 local time and was captured simultaneously by the Fripon Andino cameras located at the La Silla and El Sauce observatories.

The expedition covered an area of ​​3 km x 400 m (1,2 km20), which corresponds to XNUMX% of the total area provided by the models. The greatest difficulty faced was that the area of ​​the fall path comprises a type of relief with mountains and a lot of vegetation such as cacti and bushes that make access and visibility difficult for collecting possible rocks from the fall. Scientists also report that in the area there are many rocks that look like meteorites, but which correspond to rocks with iron minerals, or to foundry slag.

Alexandre Corgne, researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences of the Universidad Austral, stresses the importance of being able to collect freshly fallen meteorites. After their classification in official repositories, such as the Pelom Kura repository (Universidad Austral The meteorites (the only ones in Chile) are made available to the academic community due to their high scientific value. Their study allows us to improve our knowledge about planetary formation, in particular about the Earth and rocky planets, as well as the origin of life, the Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere. Since recently fallen meteorites have not suffered much alteration on the Earth's surface, they represent original extraterrestrial material, providing pristine information about the composition and origin of our planetary system.

Fripon Andino is a citizen science project, in which private collaborators, research centers and scientists from various institutions participate, including the Franco-Chilean Astronomy Laboratory, the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, the Universidad de Chile, the U. of Atacama, the U. of Magallanes, the University of Valparaíso, the University of Antofagasta, among other national and international research centers. It has the participation of scientists from various institutions such as René A. Mendez (UChile), Katherine Vieira (UDA), Andrés Jordán (MAS/UAI), Christian Nitschelm (UA), Massinissa Hadjara (NIAOT/UChile), José Nilo (ULS), Maja Vuckovic (UV), Hebe Cremades (UM), Myriam Pajuelo (PUCP), Bin Yang (UDP), Alexandre Corgne (UACh), Carlos Francile (OAFA Cesco), Sébastien Bouquillon (LFCA/Observatoire de Paris), François Colas (PSL), Emmanuel Jehin (U. de Liège), Alain Klotz (IRAP), Pierre Bourget (ESO) & Pierre Vernazza (LAM).

Currently, the network has cameras operating in the regions of Antofagasta (Paranal Observatory and Calama), Atacama (Inca de Oro, Laguna Santa Rosa and Tierra Amarilla), Coquimbo (La Silla Observatory and El Sauce Observatory), Metropolitan Region (Cerro Calán Observatory) and Magallanes (Puerto Williams), in addition to two cameras in Argentina located at the Technical School of the Universidad de Mendoza (Mendoza Province) and the Felix Aguilar Astronomical Observatory (San Juan Province). All cameras are connected to each other with the aim of jointly detecting meteoroid bolides that enter the Earth and that can potentially leave a meteorite on the surface, which corresponds to the surviving rock after entering the Earth's atmosphere. This scientific network works constantly to obtain the greatest possible scientific knowledge of these events and to inform and educate the public about them, including the study and preservation of the collected meteorites for their proper conservation and access.

For more information, you can visit the Fripon Andino website https://www.fcla.cl/fripon-andino.

Image of the fireball (long line) captured by the Fripon Andino camera at La Silla Observatory. The bright spherical image is the Moon.

 

Image of the bolide (short line at the bottom) captured by the Fripon Andino camera at the El Sauce Observatory. The bright spherical image is the Moon.

 

Trajectory of the bolide (luminous phenomenon or bright flight) crossing the regions of Atacama and Coquimbo, based on images captured by the Fripon Andino network. The bolide traveled from the northeast (top right in the image) to the southwest (bottom left in the image) and went out at the point marked by the circle. After this, it continued its fall or dark flight, affected by the winds towards the area located about 30 km southwest of the circle.

 

Probable line of impact sites of the possible meteorites associated with the bolide detected by the Fripon Andino network, according to the model for an initially spherical meteoroid and considering the effects of the wind. The numbers indicate the estimated mass of the meteorites.

 

 

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