Abbreviation | DFN |
---|---|
Type | camera network |
Purpose | Record meteorite falls |
Headquarters | Perth |
Region served | Australia |
Affiliations | Curtin University |
Website | dfn |
The Desert Fireball Network (DFN) is a network of cameras in Australia. It is designed to track meteoroids entering the atmosphere, and aid in recovering meteorites. It currently operates 50 autonomous cameras, spread across Western and South Australia, including Nullarbor plain, WA wheatbelt, and South Australian desert, covering an area of 2.5 million km2. The locations of the stations were chosen to facilitate meteorite searching. Starting in 2018, cameras deployed across the world began the first global fireball observatory in association with partner research teams.
The DFN observatories capture approximately 30-second exposures of the sky from dusk until dawn every night, and the DFN team is automatically alerted if a fireball or meteor is detected. Based on the long-exposure images, trajectories and orbits are plotted in a semi-automated manner, and a fall-line is generated to indicate the whereabouts and mass of any resultant meteorites on the ground.