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Meteorite. The 60- tonne, 2.7 m-long (8.9 ft) Hoba meteorite in Namibia is the largest known intact meteorite. [1] A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the ...
Meteorite classification. In meteoritics, a meteorite classification system attempts to group similar meteorites and allows scientists to communicate with a standardized terminology when discussing them. Meteorites are classified according to a variety of characteristics, especially mineralogical, petrological, chemical, and isotopic properties.
A meteoroid shown entering the atmosphere, causing a visible meteor and hitting the Earth's surface, becoming a meteorite. A meteoroid ( / ˈmiːtiərɔɪd / MEE-tee-ə-royd) [1] is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space . Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects ...
Impact event. Damage to trees caused by the Tunguska event. The object, just 50–80 metres (150–240 feet) across, exploded 6–10 km (4–6 miles) above the surface, shattering windows hundreds of km away. An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. [1]
Look up meteoritics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Meteoritics [note 1] is the science that deals with meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids. [note 2] [2] [3] It is closely connected to cosmochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry. A specialist who studies meteoritics is known as a meteoriticist. [4]
Iron meteorites, also called siderites or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron meteorites originate from cores of planetesimals, with the exception of the IIE iron meteorite group
Chondrite. Small to medium asteroids that were never part of a body large enough to undergo melting and planetary differentiation. A chondrite / ˈkɒndraɪt / is a stony (non- metallic) meteorite that has not been modified, by either melting or differentiation of the parent body. [a] [1] They are formed when various types of dust and small ...
Eta Aquariids meteor shower, with zodiacal light and planets marked and labeled. A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on ...