Article Posted on : - Dec 01, 2008

File photo of the 2004 Geminid meteor shower in Canada. NASA photo

TORONTO (BNS): Canadian scientists have been successful in gathering fragments of the 10-tonne space rock that fell in the western part of the country last week.

Planetary scientist Alan Hildebrand and graduate student Ellen Milley from University of Alberta said that they found meteorite fragments in a rural area near the border town of Lloydminster, Alberta, in the third week of November.

Thousands of locals witnessed a spectacular late night light show as the bright colourful rock fell near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.

Canadian scientists are currently searching the area to collect additional fragments, which they believe are strewn across a 20-sq km area. They reportedly found the 10 fragments on a frozen pond, the biggest being a fist-sized meteorite. They believe there may be thousands of fragments on the ground.

The country’s largest meteorite shower took place in Alberta, in 1960, when more than 700 fragments were recovered.