We explain what a meteorite is, its characteristics and differences from asteroids. Also, meteorites crashed on Earth.
What is a meteorite?
Meteorites or aerolites are fragments of rock from outer space to our planet, which survive friction with the atmosphere on its way to crashing into the Earth's crust.
When an object from outside passes through the atmosphere, its friction generates high temperatures and causes wear. When these rocks disintegrate, even partially, they generate a luminous trail known as meteor.
Meteorites are, then, meteors that survive entering the atmosphere, falling somewhere on the Earth's surface. Both “meteor” and “meteorite” are words from Greek. meteorswhich translates “phenomenon in the sky.”
A third term used in the scientific field is meteoroidto refer to the particles that enter from the atmosphere, regardless of whether or not the atmospheric phenomenon described above occurs.
The meteorites do not fall exclusively on Earth. On Mars and the Moon we have found abundant evidence of impacts, and it is assumed that during the initial stages of the formation of the Solar System, the abundance of matter dispersed in space produced very high meteoric activity.
On our planet there are more than 31,000 documented meteorite impacts. Each one bears the name of the place where their remains are found, followed by letters or numbers.
Characteristics of meteorites
The meteorites have an irregular shape and a diverse chemical composition. It is estimated that rocky meteors are more abundant (according, at least, to impacts on Earth) than metallic or metallic-rocky ones.
Like comets, many of them contain material from the very formation of the Solar System, and can provide very valuable scientific information.
Meteorites generally have a size ranging from a few centimeters to several meters and they are usually found in the heart of craters that they generated in their fall. That is why many of them are discovered hundreds or thousands of years later, in the midst of geological explorations.
Types of meteorite
Meteorites are traditionally classified according to their composition, into three different categories:
- Stony (rocks) Calls aerolites either lititosare mainly made up of silicate minerals, whether chondrites (more abundant) or achondrites (similar to igneous rocks).
- Metallic Calls sideritesare mainly composed of iron and nickel.
- Metallic-stony Intermediate category, which contains both metal and rock, and is called lithosiderite.
Difference between asteroid and meteorite
The main difference between asteroids and meteoroids has to do with size. Asteroids are bigger although smaller than a planet, and are floating in space forming belts or simply wandering around. That is to say that have not impacted the earth's surface.
Instead, meteoroids are smaller especially after impacting the atmosphere, and are those that reach the Earth's surface. It is possible to imagine that an asteroid fragments, releasing smaller pieces that, upon entering our planet, become meteorites.
Largest meteorites that hit Earth
Some of the largest meteorites that have been recorded on the planet were:
- Cape York Meteorite Fallen in Savissivik, Greenland, weighing 582 tons.
- Hoba meteorite Fallen in Otjozondjupa, Namibia, weighing 66 tons.
- Gancedo Meteorite Fallen in the Province of Chaco, Argentina, weighing 30.8 tons.
- El Chaco Meteorite Fallen in the Province of Chaco, Argentina, weighing 28.8 tons.
- Bacubirito meteorite Fallen in Sinaloa, Mexico, weighing 24 tons.
Continue with: Astros
References
- “Meteorite” on Wikipedia.
- “Differences between a meteorite and an asteroid?” in National Geographic.
- “Types of meteorites” in AstroAfición.
- “Meteorite types and classification” on Geology.com.
- “Meteors & Meteorites” in NASA Science.
- “What are Meteorites?” on Space.com.
- “Meteorite (astronomy)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
