A meteorite is a chunk of metallic or stony material from space that strikes the surface of Earth. There are three kinds of meteorites, stony, iron, and stony-iron. Stony meteorites consist of minerals rich in silicon and oxygen, with smaller amounts of iron, magnesium, and other elements. One group of stony meteorites, called chondrites, are pieces of the same material from which the planets formed. Another group of stony meteorites, the achondrites, were once part of a parent body, such as an asteroid, that was large enough to have melted and separated into an iron-rich core and a stony crust.
Iron meteorites consist mostly of iron and nickel.
Scientists believe that this meteorite, found in Antarctica in 1984, came from Mars. The size of meteorites varies greatly. Most of them are relatively small. This meteorite, discovered in 1920, fell at Hoba West, a farm near Grootfontein, Namibia. However, much larger bodies, such as asteroids and comets, can also strike the earth and become meteorites.