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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 ferronickel; and stony-iron meteorites that contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material.
Meteoric iron, sometimes meteoritic iron, [1] is a native metal and early-universe protoplanetary-disk remnant found in meteorites and made from the elements iron and nickel, mainly in the form of the mineral phases kamacite and taenite. Meteoric iron makes up the bulk of iron meteorites but is also found in other
A meteorite mineral is a mineral found chiefly or exclusively within meteorites or meteorite-derived material. [citation needed] This is a list of those minerals, excluding minerals also commonly found in terrestrial rocks. As of 1997 there were approximately 295 mineral species which have been identified in meteorites. [1]
Most iron meteorites originate from cores of planetesimals, [3] with the exception of the IIE iron meteorite group. [4] The iron found in iron meteorites was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans, due to the malleability and ductility of the meteoric iron, [5] before the development of smelting that signaled the ...
Meteorites might look like boring bits of rock – but each one has a fascinating story. Curious Kids: what are meteorites made of and where do they come from? Skip to main content
Meteorites are often divided into three overall categories based on whether they are dominantly composed of rocky material (stony meteorites), metallic material (iron meteorites), or mixtures (stony–iron meteorites). These categories have been in use since at least the early 19th century but do not have much genetic significance; they are ...
The space rock that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period caused a global calamity that doomed the dinosaurs and many other life forms. Researchers assessed ...
Previous research found that less than 1% of the meteorites came from Mars and the moon. The researchers are still exploring the source of the remaining roughly 15% of known Earth meteorites.