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Few meteorites are large enough to create large impact craters. Instead, they typically arrive at the surface at their terminal velocity and, at most, create a small pit. NWA 859 iron meteorite showing effects of atmospheric ablation The impact pit made by a 61.9-gram Novato meteorite when it hit the roof of a house on 17 October 2012.
A chondrite / ˈ k ɒ n d r aɪ t / 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 grains in the early Solar System accreted to form primitive asteroids.
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, [3] with the exception of the IIE iron meteorite group. [4]
Meteorites might look like boring bits of rock – but each one has a fascinating story.
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]
Stony meteorite – a meteorite composed mostly of silicates. Stony-iron meteorite – a meteorite that is a mixture of meteoric iron and silicates. Strewn field – a field of fragments from one meteorite fall. Structural class – a subdivision of iron meteorites in ataxites, hexahedrites and octahedrites.
This group, named after the Ivuna meteorite (Tanzania), have chemical compositions that are close to that measured in the solar photosphere (aside from gaseous elements, and elements such as lithium which are underrepresented in the Sun's photosphere by comparison to their abundance in CI chondrites). In this sense, they are chemically the most ...
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 ...