Camera network to track fall of meteorites: MHC
The Ministry of Heritage and Culture (MHC) is planning to have a camera network in many parts of the country to monitor and study the fall of meteorites.
Speaking to Muscat Daily, HE Salem bin Mohammed al Mahrouqi, Undersecretary for Heritage Affairs in MHC, said, “It is for the first time that we selected four areas to install cameras. It will help us understand the composition of the meteorite before it hits the Earth and how it conditions itself on the ground due to the presence of bacteria or the process of oxidation due to different elements.”
H E Mahrouqi was speaking on the sidelines of a memorandum of understanding that was signed between MHC and Switzerland’s Natural History Museum. H E Mahrouqi signed the pact with Beda Hofmann, Head of Earth Science at the Natural History Museum in Bern, Switzerland.
Swiss geologist Edwin Gnos of
Natural History Museum of Geneva added, “Oman has a flat area but mountainous regions have lots of bushes too. It’s difficult to locate a meteorite in such areas. So, cameras can track and aid us in calculating the trajectory of the fall and the meteorite’s recovery process.”
The agreement
Speaking about the agreement, H E Mahrouqi said, “I am happy that we can continue the long cooperation that started in 2009 between the Oman’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Swiss Natural History Museum to study and classify the meteorites of different ages. “Today's agreement is an extension of that pact signed in 2009. We are using foreign expertise for documentation, classification, listing and assembling all meteorites in the sultanate. It has a provision to maintain a database according to a classification programme based on the types of meteorites found. Till date more than 10,000 meteorites have been recovered from the sultanate alone.”
Hofmann said, “Our work is to classify the meteorites. When we find a meteorite, we want to find out its type. In Oman, there is an abundance of meteorites. We want to know how long a specific meteorite has been on Earth so that we can do the terrestrial age dating.
“Say, a meteorite may have been in the desert for 20,000 years until moved by natural forces. When we get a meteorite, we calculate the kind of distance the meteorite travelled before hitting the Earth and where it came from. One particular meteorite we returned to Oman is Lunar which came from the Moon - weighing around 200g. It is unique. Others that have been recovered weigh in milligrams.”
First batch of meteorites
Speaking about the first batch of meteorites that Oman received from Switzerland, H E Mahrouqi said some have been exhibited at MHC’s Natural History Museum.
“Others will be kept at the National Museum while the remaining ones will be exhibited at a permanent place later on.”
Regarding Oman’s plans to bring back the meteorites from Switzerland, “We will bring them back in a phased manner. Some of the meteorites will be left there [in Switzerland] as a symbol of appreciation towards the Swiss team for what they have been doing here. It is in our interest for people abroad to know about Oman’s collection of meteorites.”
Tackling illegal trade
He said that the ministry is coordinating with the customs authorities to clamp down on trafficking of artefacts including meteorites. “We are building our capacity within the ministry and coordinating with the concerned parties including police to tackle this problem. There is coordination with all the parties concerned within the country and abroad as well as including Unesco and alike.”