Ruamāhanga has landed!
On 28th of July 2026, at 10.26 pm, a rock from space shot across Earth’s atmosphere over the lower North Island. The associated fireball was seen and reported widely, with many in the Kapiti to Masterton region describing the amazing sight. One anonymous person in Feilding writing on the fireball report page that the “Sky lit up like a bonfire in flames.”
The fireball was observed by the Fireballs Aotearoa camera network and its trajectory was calculated. Fireballs Aotearoa organised a search of the predicted landing area or “strewn-field”. After several days of searching near the Ruamāhanga river, five small fusion-crusted fragments were discovered which weighed 5, 8, 9, 12 and 40 grams. A sixth piece smashed into a concrete driveway so even smaller pieces were recovered.
The meteorite is being formally classified by Dr Marshall Palmer of Otago University. When that is done the fall will be given an official name (we are suggesting Ruamāhanga) and will become New Zealand’s 11th documented meteorite and the third observed to fall.
Read more about Ruamāhanga here, or about our 2024 discovery of the Takapō meteorite here.
Report a Meteor or Fireball
Have you just seen a bright meteor or fireball? Report it through our Fireball Reporting page. We’ll ask you questions about what you saw, so using our reporting page is far better than e-mailing us.
Report a Meteorite
Do you have a rock you think might be a meteorite? Send an email to meteorites@rasnz.org.nz with images and a description. Make sure these are in focus, and try to image broken surfaces that might show the rock interior. Please also include when and where it was found. We have no commercial interest in meteorites. If your rock turns out to be a meteorite, we urge you to donate it to a museum so that it can be appreciated by public and scientists.
Get Involved
Get your own camera, learn to track meteorites, join a meteorite hunt or follow us on social media. It’s all here.
Donations
We are extremely grateful to the two anonymous donors who funded our volunteers to build, configure and dispatch cameras early on. In 2023, a generous grant from the Scientia Trust Planet Earth Fund enabled us to buy more AllSky7 cameras and additional RMS cameras. We welcome opportunities to partner with people or, for example, have someone sponsor a camera for a school or observatory. Get in touch with at FireballsAotearoa@gmail.com.
Acknowledgements
Fireballs Aotearoa expresses its appreciation to its supporters and donors, including the anonymous ones (you know who you are!) and:
