A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphereto reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate that energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball, also known as a shooting star or falling star; astronomers call the brightest examples "bolides". Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater.
Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transit the atmosphere and impact the Earth are called meteorite falls. All others are known as meteorite finds. As of August 2018, there were about 1,412 witnessed falls that have specimens in the world's collections.[3] As of 2018, there are more than 59,200 well-documented meteorite finds.[4]
Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites that are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals; iron meteorites that are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel; and stony-iron meteorites that contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern classification schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. Meteorites smaller than 2 mm are classified as micrometeorites. Extraterrestrial meteorites are such objects that have impacted other celestial bodies, whether or not they have passed through an atmosphere. They have been found on the Moon[5][6] and Mars.[7]
Most meteorites date from the oldest times in the solar system and are by far the oldest material available on the planet. Despite their age, they are fairly vulnerable to terrestrial environment: water, salt, and oxygen attack the meteorites as soon they reach the ground.
The terrestrial alteration of meteorites is called weathering. In order to quantify the degree of alteration that a meteorite experienced, several qualitative weathering indices have been applied to Antarctic and desertic samples.[73]
The most known weathering scale, used for ordinary chondrites, ranges from W0 (pristine state) to W6 (heavy alteration).
Most meteorites date from the oldest times in the solar system and are by far the oldest material available on the planet. Despite their age, they are fairly vulnerable to terrestrial environment: water, salt, and oxygen attack the meteorites as soon they reach the ground.
The terrestrial alteration of meteorites is called weathering. In order to quantify the degree of alteration that a meteorite experienced, several qualitative weathering indices have been applied to Antarctic and desertic samples.[73]
The most known weathering scale, used for ordinary chondrites, ranges from W0 (pristine state) to W6 (heavy alteration).
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