Muscat: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) has announced the documentation of the Khadhf meteorite, the first meteorite sample whose fall was monitored.
The meteorite was named 'Al-Khadhf' in reference to the location of its fall in the Khadf area of Thumrait.
The meteorite is the smallest mass found among 40 meteorite falls that were monitored by meteorite monitoring devices around the world.
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 of Bern in Switzerland and Curtin University in Australia and technical support from Omantel.
Meteorite monitoring devices were able to determine the geographical location of the meteorite (two samples weighing 8.2 grams and 13.8 grams
grams) and calculated the path of the fall, which made it easier for the Omani-Swiss scientific team to quickly access the sample.
The Ministry has completed the chemical analysis phase and studied the correlation between monitoring device data and isotope analysis
Short-lived radioactive meteorite (manganese element 54 and sodium element 22) in a scientific laboratory
A specialist at the University of Freiburg in Germany, he also conducted the process of examining meteorite samples through a microscope
Optical and Microelectronic Sciences at the University of Freiburg.
The results of the tests proved that the meteorites that were found
On them are actually recent falling meteorites, and they are the same meteorites that were monitored through instruments.
The monitoring, calculations, analysis, and study of modern meteorite data are operated under the supervision of astronomers and meteorologists
To access the details of the meteorite, and to know the extent to which it was affected by climatic factors before it entered the airspace on Earth, in addition to knowing the precise details about the meteorite’s path and its source in outer space, as available
The study indicates the possibility of measuring the extent to which the meteorite is affected by various factors such as erosion and oxidation after it enters the atmosphere
The type of meteorite was classified as breccia H5-6 and was officially named Al-Khadaf.
The meteorite is from the inner part of the asteroid belt, which is located between the planets Mars and Jupiter.
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