Did I just find a meteorite?
Meteorites are fragments of rock or metal that fall to Earth from space. They are very rare since 90-95% of falling fragements don’t survive their trip through Earth’s atmosphere. Many people find interesting looking rocks and natuarrly wonder about their origin. Science Central encourages your curiosity and offers this website to get you started in your journey of discovery.
This is a good site!
https://www.clemson.edu/public/geomuseum/meteorites.html
Related Terms:
- 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).
Please Note
Please note, this website is informational only. The Campbell Geology Museum does NOT offer meteorite identification services.
- 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.
These tips for identifying a meteorite were adapted from a guide by the University of New Mexico Meteorite Museum.
Rocks and minerals–including potential meteorites–must be examined in person for proper identification. For suggestions on where to do that, see: Can you identify my rock or mineral?
This is the heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor