Meteorite

A meteorite is a <a href="/facts/Rock_(geology)/FXCJkmop">rock</a> that originated in <a href="/facts/Outer_space/R3LRKyFs">outer space</a> and has fallen to the surface of a planet or <a href="/facts/Natural_satellite/AE4KQKbq">moon</a>. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as <a href="/facts/Friction/d0108Rpu">friction</a>, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a <a href="/facts/Meteor/gcoGYw6o">meteor</a> and forms a <a href="/facts/Meteoroid/5PexF2mR">fireball</a>, also known as a shooting star; astronomers call the brightest examples "<a href="/facts/Bolide/2wftckSU">bolides</a>". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an <a href="/facts/Impact_crater/nWntooh4">impact crater</a>.
Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transit the atmosphere and <a href="/facts/Impact_event/fbWu9Q4p">impact Earth</a> are called <a href="/facts/Meteorite_fall/Ao8VxUMG">meteorite falls</a>. All others are known as <a href="/facts/Meteorite_find/JUfBPu4s">meteorite finds</a>. Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites that are rocks, mainly composed of <a href="/facts/Silicate_mineral/WclrQW2I">silicate minerals</a>; <a href="/facts/Iron_meteorite/rjgT7fec">iron meteorites</a> that are largely composed of <a href="/facts/Ferroalloy/0NfDFfQE">ferronickel</a>; and stony-iron meteorites that contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern <a href="/facts/Meteorite_classification/uwVLazCS">classification</a> schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. "Meteorites" less than ~1 mm in diameter are classified as <a href="/facts/Micrometeorite/zo1KdLnJ">micrometeorites</a>, however micrometeorites differ from meteorites in that they typically melt completely in the atmosphere and fall to Earth as quenched droplets. Extraterrestrial meteorites have been found on the Moon and on Mars.
Most space rocks crashing into <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a> come from a single source. The origin of most meteorites can be traced to just a handful of asteroid breakup events – and possibly even individual <a href="/facts/Asteroid/g7Ulr1VB">asteroids</a>.

Meteorite open-in-new

Meteorite