The fall of a meteorite in Nqweba, in the Eastern Cape, and the collection of a fragment, have led to a joint team of researchers and astronomers affiliated with the Astronomical Society of South Africa being formed to search for further meteorite fragments over a wide area of the province.

The team from Rhodes University, Nelson Mandela University and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) will collect data from official observatories and eyewitness accounts to piece together the details of the bolide event.

The Nqweba Meteorite is believed to be an achondritic meteorite, specifically a rare type within the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite group. The specimens have a dark-black glassy coating, or fusion crust, with a light-grey interior that is peppered with dark-green and light-green grains and clasts.

The initial scientific focus will involve microscopic and geochemical analysis of the recovered meteorite fragment to fully classify it and understand its origin. This investigation could provide insights into the meteorite’s source region in space and possibly identify its parent body.

Such meteorites provide valuable insights into the inner workings of other planetary bodies, offering scientists a glimpse into processes similar to those that formed Earth's rocks, the universities said.

“The discovery of the Nqweba Meteorite represents a significant opportunity for South African scientists to study a rare and valuable specimen from space, advancing our understanding of meteorites and their role in the broader context of planetary science,” the team said.

“Events such as these are incredible and very exciting, both for the public who witness these falls and the scientists who gain invaluable information from studying the bolides and rocks,” said Wits School of Geosciences lecturer Dr Leonidas Vonopartis.

At 08:51 on August 25, residents from regions as distant as the Garden Route, the Karoo, the Western Cape and Free State observed a bright blue-white and orange streak of light in the sky.

The meteorite, after splitting into several smaller fragments, disappeared from view.

Nine-year-old Eli-Zé du Toit saw a dark rock fall from the sky and land near a wild fig tree in her grandparents' garden in Nqweba.

The rock, which is black and shiny on the outside with a light-grey, concrete-like interior, was still warm when she picked it up. It weighs less than 90 g and had a pre-fragmentation diameter of less than 5 cm, the scientists said.

Rhodes University Electron Microprobe Laboratory manager and extraterrestrial petrology researcher Dr Deon van Niekerk obtained a permit from the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority to recover all fragments from this meteor for scientific analysis.

Nelson Mandela University Department of Geosciences researcher Dr Carla Dodd, upon learning of the meteorite’s discovery and recognising the rarity and importance of such a find, secured the sample collected by Du Toit.

“We are grateful that Eli-Zé’s family immediately thought to contact us at the Geosciences Department upon making this rare find, and thereby effectively setting off this collaborative effort to study the meteorite and preserve it as part of the Eastern Cape heritage,” Dodd said.