Related topics: solar system , asteroid
Meteorite
hideA meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives an impact with the Earth's surface. While in space it is called a meteoroid. When it enters the atmosphere, impact pressure causes the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting star. The term bolide refers to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.
More generally, a meteorite on the surface of any celestial body is a natural object that has come from elsewhere in space. Meteorites have been found on the Moon and Mars.
Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transited the atmosphere or impacted the Earth are called falls. All other meteorites are known as finds. As of mid-2006, there are approximately 1,050 witnessed falls having specimens in the world's collections. In contrast, there are over 31,000 well-documented meteorite finds.
Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals; iron meteorites are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel; and, stony-iron meteorites contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern classification schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. See meteorites classification.
For more information about Meteorite, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with meteorite
New Study of Meteorite Provides More Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (39) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1996, when scientists examined a meteorite from Mars previously uncovered in Antarctica, they were intrigued by what looked like microscopic fossils of ancient Martian life forms. Now, ...
Earth's atmosphere came from outer space, find scientists
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (29) |
12
(PhysOrg.com) -- The gases which formed the Earth's atmosphere - and probably its oceans - did not come from inside the Earth but from outer space, according to a study by University of Manchester and University ...
Scientists say comet killed off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 02, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (24) |
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First an explosion as powerful as thousands of megatons of TNT rained meteorites down on North America. Then forest fires broke out across the continent, sending up a thick layer of soot and dust that blocked ...
Mars breakthrough: Scientists uncover red planet's hot and steamy secrets
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (20) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- An analysis of Martian meteorites has led scientists to believe that Mars was molten for up to 100 million years after it formed, thwarting the evolution of early life on the planet.
Researchers make rare meteorite find using new camera network in Australian desert
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (19) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the Solar System it came from, in a very rare finding published today ...
Patagonia site of world's biggest crater field: study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 08, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (18) |
0
Argentina can lay claim to the world's largest crater field, a volcanic area in Patagonia known as the "Devil's Slope," according to a study released Tuesday.
Scientists see water ice in fresh meteorite craters on Mars
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 24, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (16) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are seeing sub-surface water ice that may be 99 percent pure halfway between the north pole and the equator on Mars, thanks to quick-turnaround observations from orbit of fresh ...
Absence of evidence for a meteorite impact event 13,000 years ago
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (17) |
13
An international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have found no evidence supporting an extraterrestrial impact event at the onset of the Younger Dryas ~13000 years ...
Cool Stars Have Different Mix of Life-Forming Chemicals
Apr 07, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (14) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- Life on Earth is thought to have arisen from a hot soup of chemicals. Does this same soup exist on planets around other stars? A new study from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope hints that planets ...
Scientists Find Clues to a Secret of Life
Mar 17, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (13) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists analyzing the dust of meteorites have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level.
Unusual meteorite found by time-lapse camera observatory
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (15) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- An unusual meteorite with an interesting orbit has been tracked to the ground using a photographic observatory that records time-lapse images of fireballs traveling across the sky.
Dinosaurs declined before mass extinction
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Apr 30, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (14) |
5
Dinosaurs were dying out much earlier than the mass extinction event 65 million years ago, Natural History Museum scientists report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal today.
Water Bears to Travel to Martian Moon, Test Theory of Transpermia
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 13, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (14) |
22
(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny microscopic creatures commonly known as water bears (also called Tardigrades), along with a few other life forms, will be sent to the Martian moon Phobos to test whether organisms can ...
Space rock yields answers about origins of life on Earth
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 03, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Formic acid, a compound implicated in the origins of life, has been found at record levels on a meteorite that fell onto a frozen Canadian lake in 2000.
Meteorite Found on Mars Yields Clues About Planet's Past
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 10, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (11) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity is investigating a metallic meteorite the size of a large watermelon that is providing researchers more details about the Red Planet's environmental history. ...
