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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 ...
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.
Tektite. Two splash-form tektites, molten terrestrial ejecta from a meteorite impact. Tektites (from Ancient Greek τηκτός (tēktós) 'molten') are gravel -sized bodies composed of black, green, brown or grey natural glass formed from terrestrial debris ejected during meteorite impacts. The term was coined by Austrian geologist Franz ...
Kamacite is opaque, and its surface generally displays varying shades of gray streaking, or "quilting" patterns. Kamacite has a metallic luster. Kamacite can vary in hardness based on the extent of shock it has undergone, but commonly ranks a four on the mohs hardness scale. Shock increases kamacite hardness, but this is not 100% reliable in ...
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 grains in the early Solar System accreted to form primitive asteroids. Some such bodies that are captured in the planet's gravity well ...
Lonsdaleite (named in honour of Kathleen Lonsdale), also called hexagonal diamond in reference to the crystal structure, is an allotrope of carbon with a hexagonal lattice, as opposed to the cubical lattice of conventional diamond. It is found in nature in meteorite debris; when meteors containing graphite strike the Earth, the immense heat and ...
Impactite. Impactite is rock created or modified by one or more impacts of a meteorite. [1][2] Impactites are considered metamorphic rock, because their source materials were modified by the heat and pressure of the impact. [3] On Earth, impactites consist primarily of modified terrestrial material, sometimes with pieces of the original meteorite.
Octahedrite. A phase diagram showing the link between structural and chemical classification. Octahedrites are the most common structural class of iron meteorites. The structures occur because the meteoric iron has a certain nickel concentration that leads to the exsolution of kamacite out of taenite while cooling.