The nationwide search is on for New Zealand's tenth meteorite.
Led by Fireballs Aotearoa, 'The Great Meteorite Search' involves a national network of 110 cameras - in collaboration with the University of Otago, 26 primary, intermediate and high schools as well as observatories and members of the public.
It comes after a huge fireball was seen in central North Island earlier this year, with experts believing it may have resulted in some meteorites landing on New Zealand soil.
These meteorites could be sitting in a paddock, a back doorstep, or on grandma's mantelpiece.
Meteorologist James Scott believes there are several out there waiting to be found.
"New Zealand has had nine known meteorites in the last 160 years, of which only two have been seen to 'fall'. The rest have been found by members of the public by accident," he said.
The new camera network aims to improve these statistics, helping scientists accurately locate any meteorites that fall low enough to land.
Scott said this research is critical in understanding how the Earth was formed.
"Most [asteroids] come from the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter, which is an area that never grew to form a planet. Therefore, these rocks are debris left over from the planet-building stage, and most are nearly 4.5 billion years old."
In other words, the more meteorites we find - the more we can understand our own planet.
Scott suspects far more than 10 meteorites have already been collected - likely unknowingly.
"Nine meteorites in 160 years is actually a poor haul. We predict that NZ should have received three to four each year. The problem is that they are not seen, or land in areas that are not realistic to search."
The camera network can only go so far in identifying meteorites, which is why manually finding them is crucial.
Scott said there are a few things to look out for.
"Recently fallen meteorites tend to have a black coating only 1-2mm thick. The interior of the rock should be a completely different colour, texture and grain size," he explained.
They're also quite heavy when compared to typical Earth rocks of equivalent size.
Scott said meteorites that have sat around for a long time will lose the black coating, but will still appear unusual in colour, density and place.
The Great Meteorite hunt camera network has global significance, as it's monitoring much of the southern hemisphere for the likes of NASA. It's also one of the densest networks on Earth.
Fireballs NZ said any meteorites identified will be studied to help further understand our planet and solar system. The finder and their story will also be credited.
If you think you might have a meteorite, contact Fireballs Aotearoa at: meteorites@rasnz.org.nz
