Curtin University's Desert Fireball Network is part of the Global Fireball Observatory collaboration. It is supported by the Space Science and Technology Centre and the Curtin Institute for Radio Astronomy.
About Us
The Desert Fireball Network is an inter-disciplinary research group looking to uncover the mysteries surrounding the formation of the solar system through the study of meteorites, fireballs and their pre-Earth orbits.
First established in 2005 as a trial of three remote operated film cameras to observe meteors falling towards Earth’s surface, the DFN at Curtin University is now a national distributed network of over 50 disruption-tolerant and fully autonomous digital observatories that continually monitor 3 million square km of the night sky – a third of Australian skies, all night, every night.
Using intelligent imaging systems, automated data reduction pipeline, real time server-side triangulation and supercomputer data management system, the DFN captures the paths of fireballs in the sky, triangulating trajectories from multiple viewpoints, linking the rock’s pre-Earth orbit to its landing site for recovery.
Together with partners across the world, the DFN is expanding to become a Global Fireball Observatory with stations internationally to observe these phenomena. Recovering meteorites with known orbits helps to address some of the biggest questions in planetary science: how our planetary system came into being, and how dust and gas produced a planet capable of supporting life – our Earth.
Report it on our Fireballs In The Sky app (Android or iOS ), or use the IMO web interface.
Research
Instrumentation
Meet the team who designs autonomous intelligent observatories, able to work in the Canadian polar winter as well as survive the Australian desert
People
Researchers
Ellie Sansom
Curtin U.
Hadrien Devillepoix
Curtin U.
Martin Towner
Curtin U.
Rachel Kirby
Monash & Curtin U.
Andy Tomkins
Monash U.
Phil Bland
Lucy Forman
Curtin U.
Gretchen Benedix
Curtin U.
Jonti Horner
U. Southern Queensland
Brad Tucker
Australian National University
PhD Students
Sophie Deam
Curtin U.
Dale Giancono
Curtin U.
Iona Clemente
Curtin U.
Thomas Stevenson
Curtin U.
Bella Hatty
Curtin U.
Kosta Servis
Pawsey supercomputing centre
Ashley Rogers
Curtin U.
Support staff
Martin Cupák
Curtin U.
Mia Walker
Curtin U.
Former Team Members
Seamus Anderson
Trent Jansen-Sturgeon
Patrick Shober
Luke Daly
Robert Howie
Ben Hartig
