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Meteors and Meteorites

A meteor is a “shooting star”; a bit of interplanetary ice or rock that vaporizes in Earth’s upper atmosphere as a burst of incandescent gas. A meteorite is a space rock that strikes the surface of Earth. Most meteorites are classified as stony because of their mineral composition, which may include olivine, pyroxene, serpentine, sulfates, organic compounds, iron, and nickel. See our list of this year’s meteor showers for more information.

Resources

Remnants from the Beginning June 10, 2010
Mars meteorite

Meteorites May 19, 2010

Radio Programs

Valuable Rocks II Potential gold mines waiting for prospectors June 15, 2023

Valuable Rocks Big prices for small rocks June 14, 2023

Portales Meteorites Raining space rocks on New Mexico June 13, 2023

Better Hunting “Blood hounds” for meteorite hunters April 28, 2023

Illinois Shower A missile explodes over Illinois March 26, 2023

Geminid Meteors Slow but bright “shooting stars” December 12, 2022

Earth’s Age Counting candles on a birthday cake October 12, 2022

Skipping Away Skipping away from a bright encounter August 10, 2022

Sutter’s Mill A second “gold rush” at Sutter’s Mill April 22, 2022

Death by Meteorite? Deadly rain from beyond Earth March 25, 2022

Moon and Pollux Looking for bits of the Moon on Earth March 12, 2022

Sikhote-Alin Expensive shrapnel from space February 12, 2022

Moving West Moving west with a load of space rocks August 26, 2021

A Debate Continues A scientific debate drags on August 6, 2021

Dangerous Asteroids II Protection against falling rocks August 2, 2021

Fearsome Stone Making swords from “lightning” April 19, 2021

Vesta A well-known asteroid at its best March 1, 2021

Unexpected Visitor A visitor drops in on Japan January 7, 2021

Cosmic Weapons Weapons forged from “falling stars” October 7, 2020

Lunar Meteorites Picking up pieces of the Moon September 21, 2020

Lyrid Meteors Meteors for all occasions April 20, 2020

Tracking Meteors Tracking streaks in the night sky April 19, 2020

Meteorites Rocks from other worlds April 18, 2020

Crater Hunting Hunting the scar of an asteroid April 17, 2020

Relics Relics of ancient dead stars April 16, 2020

Making Glass A fiery birth for a Sun god March 18, 2020

Icy Rocks Picking up rocks from the ice December 2, 2019

Messy Meteorite A roof gets hit by a big hailstone October 20, 2019

Bovedy Meteorite Recording an ancient space rock April 25, 2019

Allende Meteorite Rocks that are older than Earth February 8, 2019

Hunting Space Rocks II Extreme rock hunting December 6, 2017

Hunting Space Rocks Rock hunting on ice December 5, 2017

Moon and Regulus Flashes on the dark Moon November 10, 2017

Peekskill Meteorite An unusual auto collision October 9, 2017

Featured Images

fragments of sutter's mill meteorite, collected in 2012

Good as Gold April 22, 2022

Scary Visitor February 12, 2022
microscopic dust grain, taking core samples

Tiny Visitors September 27, 2021
american meteorite museum

On the Road August 26, 2021
microscopic view of mars meteorite AH84001

Buggy Discovery? August 5, 2021
A moonrock found in Antarctica in 1994

Moonrocks September 21, 2020
Fireball over Bering Sea

Fireball March 24, 2019
A meteorite on the Antarctic ice

Rock Hunting December 6, 2017
Bright meteor over Europe

Bright Meteor November 15, 2017
Map showing the path of the Peekskill meteorite

Bright Visitor October 9, 2017
Noctilucent clouds over the north pole

Glowing Skies July 29, 2017