Science Central does NOT offer meteorite identification services. Please note, this website is informational only.
Did I just find a meteorite?
Meteorites are rare fragments of rock or metal that have survived falling through Earth’s atmosphere. Some 90-95% don’t reach our planet’s surface. You can find interesting rocks everywhere, and you may wonder about their origin. Science Central encourages your curiosity and offers this resource to get you started in your geological investigative journey!
Related Terms
These terms will help with your search.
- Meteorites are “fragments of rock or iron from a meteoroid, asteroid, or possibly a comet that pass through a planet or moon’s atmosphere and survive the impact on the surface” (1).
- Meteoroids are what meteorites are called while still in space (5).
- Meteors are “the streaks of light we see at night as small meteoroids burns up passing through our atmosphere” (1)
- Shooting stars are “small pieces of rock or dust that hit Earth’s atmosphere from space” (2). They include meteors and fireballs (1). are “small pieces of rock or dust that hit Earth’s atmosphere from space” (2). They include meteors and fireballs (1).
- Slag is a general term for a by-product of smelting ores and recycled metals and is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. It is often confused with meteorites.
Rock & Meteorite Identification
Try describing its characteristics – Color, hardness, luster, streak, crystal form, cleavage, and density. Some helpful steps are determining the rock’s hardness, its magnetism, and how it reacts to acid. To understand a rock’s hardness, consult the Mohs’ Hardness Scale.
You may want to find help. Some tests require cutting into the rock or utilizing other rocks to determine its hardness for example. You could visit a local college with a geology department or a local geological survey. Asking a member of a local rock hounding or gem and mineral club might yield results. Or you might attend a gem and mineral show. There are also apps available to download.
These tips for identifying a meteorite were adapted from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
- Density: Meteorites are usually quite heavy for their size, since they contain metallic iron and dense minerals.
- Magnetic: Since most meteorites contain metallic iron, a magnet will often stick to them. For “stony” meteorites, a magnet might not stick, but if you hang the magnet by a string, it will be attracted.
- Unusual shape: iron-nickel meteorites are rarely rounded. Instead, they have an irregular shape with unusual pits like finger prints in their surface called “regmaglypts.”
- Fusion crust: stony meteorites typically have a thin crust on their surface where it melted as it passed through the atmosphere
- Light-colored crystals: Quartz is a common, light-colored crystal in Earth’s crust, but it is not found on other bodies in the solar system.
- Bubbles: volcanic rocks or metallic slag on Earth often have bubbles or vesicles in them, but meteorites do not.
- Streak: if you scratch a meteorite on an unglazed ceramic surface, it should not leave a streak. A dense rock that leaves a black or red streak probably contains the iron minerals magnetite or hematite, respectively, neither of which are typically found in meteorites.