There are several craters 145 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs that were formed when meteorite fragments collided with the surface of the earth - today known as the Henbury Meteorite Reserve. It is one of only five places in Australia where debris from a space body has been found, and one of the world's best examples of a small crater field. There are 13 to 14 craters ranging in size from 7 to 180 metres in diameter and up to 15 metres deep. Several tonnes of iron-nickel meteorite debris have been collected from the area. The disaster is believed to have occurred about 4,700 years ago when the meteorite slammed into the ground at 40,000 kilometres per hour.
The crater field got its name from the nearby pasture, which in 1875 was occupied by a family of natives of the English town of Henbury. And the craters themselves were discovered in 1899, but for many years they remained unexplored, until in 1930 in the state of South Australia did not fall another meteorite - Karunda. This excited the public and the first scientists travelled to Henbury. Already in 1932, a certain A.R.Alderman published a scientific paper "Henbury Meteorite Craters in Central Australia", in which he described his research in detail.
