Meteorites exhibition opens in Sur
Published: 05:06 PM,Jun 10,2024 | EDITED : 09:06 PM,Jun 10,2024
Meteorites exhibition opens in Sur
MUSCAT: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism opened the Meteorites Exhibition in Sur, under the patronage of Dr Sheikh Hilal bin Ali bin Saud Al Habsi, Governor of the Wilayat of Sur, as part of the activities of the Executive Programme to make Sur the Arab Tourism Capital for 2024.
The exhibition introduces the importance of meteorites and their sustainable investment and diversifies the museum system, which contributes to enhancing heritage and tourist destinations in various governorates.
The expo displays some rare meteorites of global scientific importance and exceptional value, including meteorite samples that are considered one of the largest falls. It also includes a presentation of the meteor monitoring devices project in the Sultanate of Oman, through which the Ministry works to monitor and document meteorites as they enter the airspace and determine their fall locations, thus facilitating their direct capture.
Saeed bin Hareb Al Obaidani, Director-General of Museums, stated that the General Directorate of Museums, represented by the Department of Geological Heritage, is making efforts in researching and monitoring these meteorites by studying them and then displaying them to visitors in exhibitions and museums.
The exhibition held its third session in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate, in the Wilayat of Sur, the Capital of Arab Tourism. The exhibition will be available to the public until January 12, 2025.
Engineer Hussein bin Ali Al Ghafri, Director, Geological Heritage Department, added that the Ministry was able to monitor several meteorites the moment they entered the atmosphere in Oman through the meteorological monitoring project, which is implemented in cooperation with the Natural History Museum in Bern in Switzerland and Curtin University in Australia, and technical support from Omantel.
The Ministry announced the first results of the project by documenting the 'meteorite,' which is the smallest mass found among 40 meteorite falls that were monitored by meteorite monitoring devices around the world.
The meteorite monitoring devices were able to determine the geographical location of the meteorite (two samples weighing 8.2 grams and 13.8 grams) and calculate the path of the fall, which made it easier for the Omani-Swiss scientific team to quickly reach the sample, as this achievement is evidence of the possibility of searching for and finding the observed meteorites using modern technology.
The Ministry has completed the stage of chemical analyses, the study of the correlation between data from monitoring devices, and the analysis of short-lived radioactive isotopes of meteorites at the University of Freiburg in Germany.
The process of examining meteorite samples through optical and microelectronic microscopy was also conducted at the University of Freiburg. The results of the tests proved that the meteorites that were found were indeed recently fallen meteorites, and they were the same meteorites that were monitored through the devices.
The monitoring, calculations, analysis, and study of modern meteorite data are working under the supervision of astronomers and meteorologists to reach the details of the meteorite and know the extent to which it was affected by climatic factors before it entered the Earth’s airspace, in addition to knowing the precise details about the meteorite’s path and its source in outer space.
The study also makes it possible to measure the extent to which the meteorite was affected by various factors such as erosion and oxidation after it entered the atmosphere and settled on Earth.
The type of meteorite was classified as Al Khandarati (breccia H5-6) and was officially named 'Al Khadhaf' because of the location of its fall in the Al Khadhaf area in Thumrait. The results of the analysis showed that the source of the meteorite was from the inner part of the asteroid belt, which is located between planets Mars and Jupiter.
The exhibition introduces the importance of meteorites and their sustainable investment and diversifies the museum system, which contributes to enhancing heritage and tourist destinations in various governorates.
The expo displays some rare meteorites of global scientific importance and exceptional value, including meteorite samples that are considered one of the largest falls. It also includes a presentation of the meteor monitoring devices project in the Sultanate of Oman, through which the Ministry works to monitor and document meteorites as they enter the airspace and determine their fall locations, thus facilitating their direct capture.
Saeed bin Hareb Al Obaidani, Director-General of Museums, stated that the General Directorate of Museums, represented by the Department of Geological Heritage, is making efforts in researching and monitoring these meteorites by studying them and then displaying them to visitors in exhibitions and museums.
The exhibition held its third session in South Al Sharqiyah Governorate, in the Wilayat of Sur, the Capital of Arab Tourism. The exhibition will be available to the public until January 12, 2025.
Engineer Hussein bin Ali Al Ghafri, Director, Geological Heritage Department, added that the Ministry was able to monitor several meteorites the moment they entered the atmosphere in Oman through the meteorological monitoring project, which is implemented in cooperation with the Natural History Museum in Bern in Switzerland and Curtin University in Australia, and technical support from Omantel.
The Ministry announced the first results of the project by documenting the 'meteorite,' which is the smallest mass found among 40 meteorite falls that were monitored by meteorite monitoring devices around the world.
The meteorite monitoring devices were able to determine the geographical location of the meteorite (two samples weighing 8.2 grams and 13.8 grams) and calculate the path of the fall, which made it easier for the Omani-Swiss scientific team to quickly reach the sample, as this achievement is evidence of the possibility of searching for and finding the observed meteorites using modern technology.
The Ministry has completed the stage of chemical analyses, the study of the correlation between data from monitoring devices, and the analysis of short-lived radioactive isotopes of meteorites at the University of Freiburg in Germany.
The process of examining meteorite samples through optical and microelectronic microscopy was also conducted at the University of Freiburg. The results of the tests proved that the meteorites that were found were indeed recently fallen meteorites, and they were the same meteorites that were monitored through the devices.
The monitoring, calculations, analysis, and study of modern meteorite data are working under the supervision of astronomers and meteorologists to reach the details of the meteorite and know the extent to which it was affected by climatic factors before it entered the Earth’s airspace, in addition to knowing the precise details about the meteorite’s path and its source in outer space.
The study also makes it possible to measure the extent to which the meteorite was affected by various factors such as erosion and oxidation after it entered the atmosphere and settled on Earth.
The type of meteorite was classified as Al Khandarati (breccia H5-6) and was officially named 'Al Khadhaf' because of the location of its fall in the Al Khadhaf area in Thumrait. The results of the analysis showed that the source of the meteorite was from the inner part of the asteroid belt, which is located between planets Mars and Jupiter.