Meteorite

• Any interplanetary debris that makes it through Earth's atmosphere
• Thousands fall to Earth every year
• Contain the oldest and most primitive materials we have been able to study in a lab
  • Almost all between 4.50 and 4.56 billion years old

Types

• Irons
  • Composed of nearly pure metallic nickel-iron
• Stones
  • Any silicate or rocky meteorite
• Stony-Irons
  • Mixtures of stone and metallic iron

Space Meteor Astronomy