Explore the meteorite impact sites of central Australia: Henbury and Tnorala craters
Shreeaa Rathi | TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Aug 01, 2025, 21:23 IST
( Image credit : TIL Creatives )
Explore the wonders of Central Australia, where ancient meteorite impact sites tell stories of the cosmos. At Henbury, witness the remnants of a meteor strike from 4,500 years ago, a location steeped in cultural significance for the Luritja people.
Central Australia offers a unique opportunity to witness the impact of space events, with accessible meteorite sites like Henbury and Tnorala (Gosse Bluff). Henbury, south of Alice Springs, features craters from a meteor strike approximately 4,500 years ago, holding cultural significance for the Luritja people. Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), west of Alice Springs, reveals a massive crater formed by a meteorite impact 142 million years ago.
Henbury Meteorites conservation reserve is located 12km off the Stuart Highway, south of Alice Springs. The site contains over a dozen impact craters. The impact occurred roughly 4,500 years ago. The event holds cultural meaning as a "sorry place" for the Luritja people. Scientific models suggest the meteorites hit Earth at 40,000km/h. The explosion is likened to the Hiroshima blast.
The site's 12 craters are best viewed when the sunlight’s low angle reveals the smaller, heavily eroded examples. The largest crater is 180m across. The smallest is the size of a back-yard spa. The explosion sprayed out tonnes of pulverised rock in a distinctive rayed pattern still visible around Crater No 3.
A chunk of meteorite found in 1931 at Henbury.
Specimens of the actual meteorite hurled out may still be found. A 45kg chunk is displayed in the Museum of Central Australia. 680kg have been collected so far. Digging or damaging the site without a permit is illegal.
Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) appears as a mountain range from Tylers Pass lookout. The peaks were created when an object up to 1km wide hit the Earth at about 250,000km/h, 142m years ago. The explosive force was at least 20 times more powerful than all the world’s nuclear weapons. The crater is 22km in diameter. Erosion has reduced the height of the hills surrounding it.
Specimens in the Museum of Central Australia show that early Cretaceous central Australia was wetter and cooler than it is now, with abundant dinosaurs. Locally, they would have been vaporized. Anything living within 100km would have been killed by the massive shock wave and extreme heat. The sound of the explosion probably travelled around the world.
In their oral traditions, Western Arrernte people understand Tnorala as a cosmic impact site.
“You didn’t mention camping on Mars.”
A group of star women were dancing in a corroboree in the Milky Way when one woman placed her baby in a turna (wooden cradle). The dancing shook the galaxy and the turna slipped, with the baby falling to Earth as a blazing star, striking the ground to create the crater’s distinctive bowl shape.
“Awesome” is a word debased by glib use.
It’s apt driving into the 5km-wide Tnorala crater, surrounded by cliffs 180 metres high, formed in a blink by a literally Earth-shattering event as our planet’s crust rebounded to form the crater’s inner ring.
The rock strata in these peaks show that some were lifted from a depth of 4km by incredible explosive force and are now inverted.
It’s not just awareness of this ancient violence that marks Tnorala as a sorry place. Local information boards describe it as a pre-colonial massacre site.
Camping is forbidden at Tnorala. It’s an unwelcoming place, where an object large enough to be classified as a city-killer fell from the sky.
This kind of comet is now thankfully detectable by telescopes such as the new Vera C Rubin observatory in Chile, and also proven as feasible they could be steered off course .
The Museum of Central Australia is hosting a Henbury Meteorite reserve discovery day on 10 August as part of National Science week.
Henbury : Day trips to the Henbury Meteorites conservation reserve require a Northern Territory parks pass and the site can be reached by 2WD vehicles, however 4WDs are recommended.
The reserve’s basic facilities include picnic shelters and a drop toilet. Water and firewood are not available. Campsites must be booked online through Northern Territory Parks and fees apply. The nearest food and fuel supplies are available 85km south at the Erldunda Roadhouse on the Stuart Highway.
Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) : The Tnorala crater is accessible via a sandy track and offers picnic shelters and a drop toilet.
Camping is not permitted in the reserve due to its status as a registered sacred site of the Western Arrernte people. Fuel and food is available at Hermannsburg, 62km east on the Namatjira Way. Travel beyond Tnorala is by 4WD only and requires a Mereenie Tour pass . Many of these roads may be impassable in wet weather.
This article was amended on 4 August 2025 to clarify that erosion reduced the height of the hills around Tnorala crater.
Henbury Meteorites conservation reserve is located 12km off the Stuart Highway, south of Alice Springs. The site contains over a dozen impact craters. The impact occurred roughly 4,500 years ago. The event holds cultural meaning as a "sorry place" for the Luritja people. Scientific models suggest the meteorites hit Earth at 40,000km/h. The explosion is likened to the Hiroshima blast.
The site's 12 craters are best viewed when the sunlight’s low angle reveals the smaller, heavily eroded examples. The largest crater is 180m across. The smallest is the size of a back-yard spa. The explosion sprayed out tonnes of pulverised rock in a distinctive rayed pattern still visible around Crater No 3.
A chunk of meteorite found in 1931 at Henbury.
Specimens of the actual meteorite hurled out may still be found. A 45kg chunk is displayed in the Museum of Central Australia. 680kg have been collected so far. Digging or damaging the site without a permit is illegal.
Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) appears as a mountain range from Tylers Pass lookout. The peaks were created when an object up to 1km wide hit the Earth at about 250,000km/h, 142m years ago. The explosive force was at least 20 times more powerful than all the world’s nuclear weapons. The crater is 22km in diameter. Erosion has reduced the height of the hills surrounding it.
Specimens in the Museum of Central Australia show that early Cretaceous central Australia was wetter and cooler than it is now, with abundant dinosaurs. Locally, they would have been vaporized. Anything living within 100km would have been killed by the massive shock wave and extreme heat. The sound of the explosion probably travelled around the world.
In their oral traditions, Western Arrernte people understand Tnorala as a cosmic impact site.
“You didn’t mention camping on Mars.”
A group of star women were dancing in a corroboree in the Milky Way when one woman placed her baby in a turna (wooden cradle). The dancing shook the galaxy and the turna slipped, with the baby falling to Earth as a blazing star, striking the ground to create the crater’s distinctive bowl shape.
“Awesome” is a word debased by glib use.
It’s apt driving into the 5km-wide Tnorala crater, surrounded by cliffs 180 metres high, formed in a blink by a literally Earth-shattering event as our planet’s crust rebounded to form the crater’s inner ring.
The rock strata in these peaks show that some were lifted from a depth of 4km by incredible explosive force and are now inverted.
It’s not just awareness of this ancient violence that marks Tnorala as a sorry place. Local information boards describe it as a pre-colonial massacre site.
Camping is forbidden at Tnorala. It’s an unwelcoming place, where an object large enough to be classified as a city-killer fell from the sky.
This kind of comet is now thankfully detectable by telescopes such as the new Vera C Rubin observatory in Chile, and also proven as feasible they could be steered off course .
The Museum of Central Australia is hosting a Henbury Meteorite reserve discovery day on 10 August as part of National Science week.
Henbury : Day trips to the Henbury Meteorites conservation reserve require a Northern Territory parks pass and the site can be reached by 2WD vehicles, however 4WDs are recommended.
The reserve’s basic facilities include picnic shelters and a drop toilet. Water and firewood are not available. Campsites must be booked online through Northern Territory Parks and fees apply. The nearest food and fuel supplies are available 85km south at the Erldunda Roadhouse on the Stuart Highway.
Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) : The Tnorala crater is accessible via a sandy track and offers picnic shelters and a drop toilet.
Camping is not permitted in the reserve due to its status as a registered sacred site of the Western Arrernte people. Fuel and food is available at Hermannsburg, 62km east on the Namatjira Way. Travel beyond Tnorala is by 4WD only and requires a Mereenie Tour pass . Many of these roads may be impassable in wet weather.
This article was amended on 4 August 2025 to clarify that erosion reduced the height of the hills around Tnorala crater.