Analyzing Meteorites at the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences, and Technology

The “Meteorite Center” at the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences, and Technology (SAASST) has three main units: analysis, observation, and a drone unit. This paper will showcase the center's capabilities as a unique location in the Gulf region capable of analyzing sample stones to check if they are meteorites or not. Initial tests (density, appearance, magnetic, and streak) are conducted in the first phase. Upon passing these tests successfully, further in-depth analysis takes place using advanced analytical techniques, such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) available at the Center for Advanced Materials Research at the University of Sharjah. The XRF is an excellent test to determine the sample elemental composition without differentiating between the different chemical compounds. If this test does not give a conclusive result of the sample being a meteorite, the XRD test is then conducted to provide the sample composition in terms of compounds present, degree of crystallinity, and amorphous content. Further tests such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) are also available to investigate other parameters such as microscopic structure, surface topography, and elemental composition at high resolution. Since 2017, 90 analysis tests have been conducted over 67 samples. Some samples were tested using only XRF, while others needed XRF and XRD if the XRF tests were inconclusive. Only 6% of the tested samples were real meteorites, and the remaining were just terrestrial rocks. The first meteorite was identified in 2018 as an ordinary chondrite. The piece was found in Liwa (Abu Dhabi, UAE). The sample weighed 12.11 g and was cut from an original heavy rock of 41 kg. It was attracted to the magnet and had a density of 3027.5 kg/m³. XRF and XRD analytical techniques were conducted on the sample. XRF analysis provided us with the sample’s elemental composition. The results indicated that this could be a meteorite. The XRF results were well correlated with the XRD results. The sample is mainly composed of forsterite (Mg2SiO4), anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8), which is the end member of the plagioclase group orthopyroxene, troilite (FeS), and Kamacite (Fe, Ni), which is found on Earth only in meteorites. The presence of metal inclusions and the mineralogy of the rock in the XRD pattern suggested that it is an ordinary chondrite, the most common type of stony meteorite. This paper will summarize our results in the search for meteorites.