RANTILA

RANTILA meteorite fall (Aubrite, 200g – ~6 kg) near Rantila (રન્તીલા) and in Ravel (રાવેલ) village, Diyodar (દિયોદર) , Banaskantha (બનાસકાંઠા) , Gujarat, India at ~19.30 IST (14.00 UT) on 17 August 2022

On 7 October 2023 the fall was registered in the Meteoritical bulletin as Rantila.

The Rantila (રન્તીલા) mass

The larger meteorite mass fell next to a tree on the soft clayey soil of Talikabhai Rabari’s (બાળકાભાઈ રબારી) farm at location 24°14’26.0″N 71°46’45.0″E near the village Rantila. Before the meteorite hit the ground it hit a branch of a neem tree (Azadirachta indica) and broke into several fragments which hit the ground and caused at least three impact pits below the tree. The fragments were collected immediately after the fall. The largest fragment (12x6x4 cm) is reported to weigh ~200 grams. The large fragments were handed over to the local Tehsildar (Mamlatdar) office of the Diyodar taluka. The detonation boom of the meteoroid was heard by a local villager and described as being similar to a passing jet plane.

The different fragments of the Rantila mass at their fall locations recorded on 17 August 2022 at 19.48 IST, shortly after the fall.

Rantila fragments at their fall locations.

A fragment of the Aubrite meteorite. Photo: Lok Patrika (18 August 2022)

Rantila fragments of various sizes. Photo: M. Farmer

Rantila locals inspecting the fallen fragments shortly after the fall.

Talikabhai Rabari giving his eyewitness report of the fall.

The tree which was hit by the Rantila mass.

Talikabhai Rabari standing next to the broken branch of the neem tree.

The Ravel (રાવેલ) mass

10.76 kilometres southwest from the first mass a second mass fell at location 24°09’55.3″N 71°42’44.9″E, close to a woman who was cleaning her courtyard at the time of the fall. The meteorite hit the floor tiles of the courtyard of Amarben Maganbhai Rabari’s (અમરબેન મગનભાઇ રબારી) house and left an impact dent with a diameter of about 14 centimetres and a depth of about 4 to 5 centimetres and some radial fractures in the tile.

Photo: CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 124, NO. 2, 25 JANUARY 2023

The impact location in the courtyard of Ravel village.

Amit Basu, Avadh Kumar Rautela and Yash Srivastava from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad visited the fall area on 23 August 2022 and collected two fragments (200 and 20 grams) from the Tehsildar office in Diyodar. The bolide apparently came in from a southwestern direction. On the day after the fall heavy rain fall started and swamped the strewn field area. In spite of that a few smaller fragments could later be recovered
after the flood.

Research articles

The Diyodar meteorite fall in India (PDF) (Current Science, Vol. 124, No. 2, 25 January 2023, pp. 152-154)

Media

G9 Live News (24 August 2022)

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