Meteorite
* ALL meteorites contain metal.
* Many meteorites show evidence of having been part of a larger, differentiated , parent body
  - strike Earth every year
* Most meteorites are asteroid fragments, broken up by collision with other asteroids
  - fairly small, with the largest ever discovered only a few meters across
  - fragments broken from asteroids
  - irons
  - magnetic, some strongly, some weakly
  - of the stony type
  - small and they cause very little damage when they hit
  - stony meteorites, classed as chondrites and achondrites
* Most meteorites come from asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
  - the break-up of small asteroids that never accreted to form a planet
* Most meteorites contain large amounts of iron and as a result are attracted to a magnet
  - some iron and tend to be very heavy
  - explode upon impact with the Earth's surface
  - fall into Earth's oceans
* Most meteorites fall into the chondrite category
  - ocean, but occasionally they fall and hit land, forming a crater
* Some meteorites are nearly pure stainless steel, born in ancient supernovas
  - contain the four lead isotopes but no uranium or thorium parents
  - even contain remnants of materials formed before our solar system even existed
  - have holes
  - kill dinosaurs
* actually land upon the Earth.
* also experience impacts themselves and can contain diamonds
  - tell much about what the asteroids are like
* are a diverse group of rocks
  - significant addition to the amount of carbon on the Earth
  - all different colors
  - also rocks
  - any size
  - basically rocks from space
* are bits of material left over from the formation of the solar system's planets
  - rock that are captured by a planet's gravity and pulled to the surface
* are chunks of rock and metal left over from the earliest history of our solar system
  - which have impacted the Earth
  - cold when they land, and generally remain intact on the surface
* are different from other stones in several ways
  - kinds of rock
  - shapes
  - either stone, iron, or stony-iron
  - fragments of meteors that have fallen to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere
  - heavier that earth rocks because of their iron content
  - heavy, weighing more than the average terrestrial rock of equivalent size
  - leftovers from the newborn solar system
* are like spheres
  - volcano rocks but bigger
  - messengers from time and space
  - meteoroids that have landed on the Earth
* are mostly from other planets
  - pieces of rock, though a few are metal, that fall to Earth from space
  - objects that have survived the plunge through earth s atmosphere and hit the ground
  - particles of other planets
* are pieces of ancient material that survive their fall to Earth from space
  - rock that enter Earth's atmosphere from space
  - the solar system that have crashed into the earth
  - rare and scientifically important discoveries
* are rocks from outer space that have fallen to earth
  - space that strike the Earth
  - that land from space
  - sometimes very hard to differentiate from terrestrial rocks
  - stony or metallic bodies that fall to the Earth from space
* are the left-overs from the creation of the solar system
  - meteoroids after they have reached the surface of the earth
  - remnants of the birth of the solar system
  - unpredictable
  - very dense, iron-rich materials
* break open the surface exposing the hot interior.
* burn when they hit the atmosphere.
* can be of four basic types
  - break up in space
  - fall at any time of day, but most fall in the afternoon or evening
* come from different galaxies
  - the asteroid belt, which swarm of objects between Mars and Jupiter
  - in three forms such as stony, stony-iron and iron based
* comes in various sizes , shapes and composition.
* contain small amounts of iridium.
* continue to be significant and mysterious.
* fall down very quickly
  - into three main categories - irons, stones, and stony irons
  - on the earth daily
* float around in space.
* flow with the glacial ice toward the sea.
* generally have a pitted surface and fused charred crust.
* have a variety of sources where they originate
  - wholly different flight pattern
  - density three times that of solid rock
  - many different sizes, ranging from pebbles up to several feet across
* includes sections.
* look like shooting stars when they soar through the sky.
* never contain abundant gas bubbles or have porous or spongy textures.
* offer the oldest known material in our solar system.
* often contain cobalt
  - fall as showers of a few to many fragments
* provide astronomers with useful information about our solar system
  - nonbiological sources of organic matter
* quickly rust out into rusted shells and wither away.
* range in size from many tonnes down to a few grams.
* reach Earth's surface because they are the right size to travel through the atmosphere.
* represent primitive solar system material
  - the building blocks of planets and, in some cases, life
* typically fall into one of five categories.
* usually have a burned appearance, are pitted, and are denser than other rocks
  - smooth surface with rounded corners
* weigh different amounts.