A network of cameras helped guide a group of space enthusiasts to New Zealand's 11th confirmed meteorite. The discovery follows a massive fireball that was tracked over the North Island on 28 July.
Steve Wyn-Harris, director of Fireballs Aotearoa, located a small, black stone on the ground. He confirmed its meteorite status by testing it with a fridge magnet, which detected iron and nickel.
Two days after Wyn-Harris's initial discovery, geology PhD student Liam McGovern found a second fragment. Over 10 days, the search party recovered four pieces in total, weighing 75g, with one fragment landing on a house driveway.
Dr Marshall Palmer, a geologist with Fireballs Aotearoa, will now analyse the fragments further and give them an official name. Professor James Scott, founder of Fireballs Aotearoa, believes these pieces may share origins with New Zealand's first meteorite, found in 1863.