For a week, a meteorite that crashed in the countryside, near the small town of Aiguillon in Lot-et-Garonne, has been sought.

Scientific cameras have precisely identified its trajectory, but the research is laborious because the terrain is immense and rugged. 

REPORT

A sky treasure hunt began several days ago in Lot-et-Garonne, because scientific cameras have identified the precise trajectory of a meteorite which crashed in the countryside, very close to the small town of Aiguillon .

Scientists have been looking for it ever since, but the work is tedious.

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A network of cameras installed every 100 km to scan the sky

"There is no need for an instrument. What is needed are eyes and a brain. I think that the most efficient people are mushroom researchers", says François Colas, research director at CNRS at the microphone of Europe 1. He directs the "Fripon" network, a network of cameras installed every 100 km to scan the sky.

They are the ones who captured the trajectory of this "racing car" last Saturday.

So for a week, François Colas has been surveying this area of ​​1 by 3 km where this meteorite straight from the asteroid belt has landed.

His goal: to find her as quickly as possible.

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"We are looking for fresh meteorites, which have not been altered by the atmosphere. It is much more interesting to study. It is as if it were an object in space," he explains.

But the terrain is immense and rugged.

And contrary to popular belief, a pebble of this size does not make a crater.

So François Colas distributes explanatory leaflets to walkers to help them recognize it.

Researchers also went from farm to farm to obtain permission to search their fields.

All weekend, hunts in groups of six were organized.

But Sunday morning, the celestial object had still not been found.