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Pampanga, Paitan meteorites officially unveiled for public viewing
The Pampanga and Paitan meteorites have officially returned to the Philippines.
At an unveiling event on Saturday in a Pasig City mall, the Philippine Meteorite Repatriation Team, in collaboration with the Manila Street Astronomers and the Philippine Astronomical Society, showed the two Philippine meteorites to the public after their repatriation.
“I'm a meteorite collector for almost 20 years, and sa katagal-tagalan ko nagko-collect ng meteorites, hindi ko akalain na kaya pa lang i-kompleto ang mga Filipino meteorites. All I thought was they were lost in history, but with the new group that we formed, new energy, new blood, biglang nabuhayan kami ng loob at kaya palang hanapin itong mga meteorites na ito,” said Allan Yu of the Philippine Meteorite Repatriation Team.
(I've been a meteorite collector for almost 20 years, and for the longest time since I have been collecting, I never thought that we would be able to complete the Filipino meteorites. All I thought was they were lost in history, but with the new group that we formed, new energy, new blood, we were inspired and able to find these meteorites.)
“Hinanap namin ito sa loob ng ilang dekada at ilang taon at napakaraming resources na kinailangan namin para magtagumpay, kasi yung ibang mga pieces nito nasa mga museums abroad… Ang hirap ng repatriation dahil yung mga issues sa museum, [at] kung paano natin silang ibabalik sa bansa natin,” added Abe Ambrocio.
(We searched for these for several decades and so many years and tapped many resources to succeed because the other pieces of these were in museums abroad… The repatriation was difficult because of the issues with the museums and how we would be able to return it to our country.)
One of the unveiled specimens was a fragment of the Pampanga meteorite, which was the oldest documented meteorite in the country when it fell in Mexico, Pampanga, in 1859.
It was discovered as a flaming rock that fell behind the Santa Monica church and was reported to smell like gunpowder, which prompted the Gobernador-General to send the meteorite overseas.
The second specimen was the majority of the Paitan meteorite, making up about 80% to 90% of the full mass of the meteorite that fell in Ilocos Sur in 1910.
The Paitan meteorite was believed to be a part of Halley's Comet that passed over the Earth in the same year and was thought to be a sign of the end of the world, which was why it was hidden by its founder for 75 years before it was finally tested and confirmed to be a meteorite.
According to Dr. Jeff Aguilar, the team worked to repatriate the two meteorites for the future generation to have access to and further study the astronomical bodies.
The team shared that they had been working to recover the meteorites for over a year before they were able to purchase them from a private collector in Germany.
“Importante talaga na maibalik natin ang lahat ng mga meteorite natin para in the future, yung younger generation, at least [kung] may mga future tayong magaaral ng mga meteorite, at least meron na tayong mga mismong specimen… Kaya tinatry namin ibalik lahat ng 7 meteorites,” said Aguilar.
(It really is important for all of our meteorites to be returned so that in the future, the younger generation who would have a chance to study these meteorites in the future, at least they would have actual specimens… That is why we are trying to repatriate all 7 meteorites.)
“Kung hindi nyo malalaman yung story behind [the meteorite], akala nyo normal na bato lang diba? Nagiging mahalaga sa atin yung isang bagay, yung isang tao, 'pag alam natin yung kanilang mga kwento,” said Mar Christian Cruz, a geoscientist and member of the International Meteorite Collectors Association.
(If you never knew the story behind [the meteorite], you would think this was a normal rock, right? An object or person becomes more important for us if we know about their stories.)
The team is currently working on locating and securing the final missing Philippine meteorite, the Calivo meteorite from the 1900s.
After the unveiling, the team will study and discuss how to distribute and divide the specimens for display at the National Museum and other astronomical exhibits.
Meanwhile, visitors were allowed to touch a fragment of the asteroid Vesta, which is the second largest asteroid in the solar system, and a moon rock.
The organizers also displayed a vial containing liquid that copied a diluted scent of the planet Jupiter, based on data gathered by the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA).
In shelves were moon rocks and samples collected from other planets, hammer artifacts impacted by meteorites, and an old article chronicling the fall of the Pampanga meteorite in 1859.
The highlight of the exhibit was a large fragment of the Bondoc meteorite, which was recovered at the Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon Province in 1956 and was believed to have landed on Earth 2.5 million years ago. It is said to be the oldest Philippine meteorite to date.
After further study, the teams intend to donate some of their specimens to the National Museum for free viewing to the public.
“Yung team namin may three aims: to search, to collect, and most importantly, to share. Iba pa rin yung feeling na makakita ka ng actual object, actual specimen, kaysa makita mo sa screen o kaya mabasa mo sa libro,” said Mar Christian Cruz, a geoscientist and member of the International Meteorite Collectors Association.
(Our team has three aims: to search, to collect, and most importantly, to share. It’s still a different feeling to see an actual object, an actual specimen, instead of just seeing it through a screen or reading about it in a book.) — VBL, GMA Integrated News
