Since the 1950s, only two observed meteorites have been found again in Sweden. The researchers at the Institute for Space Physics, IRF, in Kiruna want to change that.
With the help of a new investment in several meteor cameras in northern Sweden, they will monitor the sky.
– I hope to be able to go out and find one within ten years anyway, says Daniel Kastinen, researcher IRF Kiruna.
Shooting stars are streaks of light that are briefly visible in the starry sky. Rocks or space debris that have entered our atmosphere and burn up, they are called meteors. But sometimes the meteors are so big that they do not have time to burn up but crash on the earth, then it is called a meteorite. Finding these again is difficult.
– It is very unusual. But finding a meteorite is like getting a clue. In the sky it’s just a glimmer of light and we don’t know what it consisted of, but if you find it on the ground, it’s an enormous source of information, says Daniel Kastinen.
Create interwoven image
By placing several meteor cameras over large parts of northern Sweden, the researchers want to create an interwoven picture of the sky and be able to follow the shooting stars via several cameras and therefore increase the chances of both finding meteorites again.
Something that is unusual, since the 1950s, only two observed meteorite impacts have been found again. The new cameras could be important from a space security perspective.
Can protect the craft better
– When you have several different camera stations at the same time, you can calculate exactly which orbit it had in the solar system before it hit us. It can help us get better models of what kind of dust and rock there is in space. This makes it possible to better design satellites so that they are not destroyed. Because when we go out with satellites into the solar system, we need to know what’s out there, how much we have to protect the craft that go out, says Daniel Kastinen.