Rajasthan has once again witnessed the fall of a large meteorite, continuing with the unusually dense celestial shower over the desert State during the past decade. An iron meteorite fell at Kanvarpura village near Rawatbhata, where the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant is situated, in the bright sunlight on August 29.

At least 10 cosmic bodies have fallen in the State, especially in its western parts, since 1995. The previous meteorite fall was reported at Bhuka village in Barmer district in June 2005. The Kanvarpura celestial object, made of iron, is the rarest of the three kinds of meteors, the other two being stony and stony iron meteors.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI), announcing the meteorite fall here on Monday, said the cosmic shower in Kanvarpura was an "unspectacular event'' when compared with the fall of meteorite fragments in the rainy night sky in Gujarat recently. The meteorite, weighing 6.8 kg, landed at the rocky plains outside the village and created a small crater in the ground.

The Deputy Director General of GSI (Western Region), R.S. Goyal, said there were no fireworks in the sky as the fall was during the day time at around 1:37 p.m. "The bright sunlight masked any glow in the sky and the event would have probably gone unreported but for two shepherds who were there and reported the matter at the nearest police station," he said.

The chemical and metallurgical analysis by the GSI scientists has revealed that the meteorite consists of 90 per cent iron, 8.5 per cent nickel, 0.4 per cent cobalt and traces of other elements. Dr. Goyal said the geologists were yet to identify the cause of the unusually high incidence of meteorite fall in Rajasthan, but indicated that the desert State's location at the Tropic of Cancer lying north of the Equator could be a factor that should be studied. meteorites originate, had a synchronised orbit vis-à-vis the Tropic of Cancer and the meteors, going astray from their orbit, generally enter the Earth's atmosphere over this line.

As the meteorite fell on the ground with a loud cracking sound, the two shepherds initially got frightened. Dr. Goyal said the inquiries had revealed that the shepherds beat the meteorite with lathis and dragged it to some distance and immersed it in a small water body. The GSI scientists, who rushed to the village, could get the meteorite with the help of the local administration.