Karoonda Meteorite
Karoonda briefly shot to international fame in 1930 when a meteorite fell to earth just to the east of the town on the night of 25 November.
South Australians were startled by the appearance of a brilliant "fire ball". As a result of astronomical observations and information recieved from various localities it seemed probable that a meteorite had landed somewhere in the neighbourhood of Karoonda.
Under the leadership of Professor Kerr Grant and Mr GF Dodwell a University Party made a thorough search of the district and was rewarded on December 9 by the discovery of the meteorite.
The meteorite was estimated to have weighed as much as 41.73kg, but it fragmented on impact. The meteorite is of the stony type and of a very unusual composition. It consists mainly of silicates of iron and magnesium iron sulphites and a very small amount of iron-nickel alloy.
Visit the District Council of Karoonda East Murray office at 11 Railway Terrace – where you can see a replica of the real life meteorite on display!
Click here to read a newspaper article from the year 2000 about the meteorite.
The plate on the front of the display case reads
Under the leadership of Professor Kerr Grant and Mr GF Dodwell a University Party made a thorough search of this District and was rewarded on December 9th by the discovery of the Meteorite, the locality being Lat 35º6 South, Long 139º56 East about 2¼ Miles due East of Karoonda. The Meteorite material consisted of two large pieces and a very great number of small fragments weighing in all about 92 lbs. The Karoonda Meteorite is of the Stony Type and of very unusual composition. It consists mainly of Silicates of Iron and Magnesium Iron Sulphites and a very small amount of Iron-nickel Alloy." |
"On November 25th 1930 South Australians were startled by the appearance of a brilliant "Fire Ball". As a result of astronomical observations and information received from various localities it seemed probably that a Meteorite had landed somewhere in the neighbourhood of Karoonda.