Meteorites: The poor man’s space probe

From Earth’s Moon: ~35

From Mars: ~35

From asteroids: >22,000

Asteroid Eros – Orbited by NEAR* spacecraft in 2000

* NEAR = Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission. Eros is ~31 km in longest dimension

The fall of one of the oldest preserved meteorites, on Nov. 16, 1492, at Ensißheim, Alsace-Lorraine

The fall of one of the oldest preserved meteorites, on Nov. 16, 1492, at Ensißheim, Alsace-Lorraine

Contemporary report of the fall on Nov. 16, 1492, of the Ensißheim, Alsace-Lorraine, meteorite

Meeting of the “Friends of the Ensißheim Meteorite”

Use of meteoritic iron in the manufacture of swords and knifes

E.F.F. Chladni(1756-1827) was the

first to recognize that meteorites fall to Earth

from space.

In 1994, McCoy, Steele, Keil, Leonard and Endreß

named a new mineral, a Na-Ca-Mg phosphate from the Carlton iron

meteorite (and unknown from earth rocks)

chladniite in his honor

Definitions

Meteoroid: An object > a molecule < asteroid traveling in space

Meteor: The light phenomenon associated with a meteoroid passing through Earth’s atmosphere

Meteorite: A meteoroid after it landed on Earth or any other planetary surface

Meteorite fall: A recovered meteorite that was seen to fall

Meteorite find: A recovered meteorite without a record of its fall

Meteorite names: After landmarks near their place of fall or find (e.g. the Honolulu meteorite)

Meteorites recovered in areas with a lack of landmarks (e.g., Antarctica, Sahara desert), are named after the general area of recovery, and given a

number (e.g., ALH84001; Sahara 97166)

Antarctica is best place to find meteorites on Earth!

Searching for meteorites, 1992 - 1993

Flow of ice from center of Antarctica to the coast concentrates meteorites up-slope from mountains

Hoba, South Africa, at 60 tons, is the largest iron meteorite preserved in one piece. Find, 1920.

Hoba, South Africa

Hoba, South Africa

Ahnighito (Cape York), Greenland, 31 tons, now in the American Museum of Natural History, N.Y.

Agpalilik, Greenland, 20 tons

Agpalilik, Greenland, being loaded on a US Air Force vessel for transport to Denmark

Mundrabilla, Australia, 22 tons

Willamette, Oregon, 14.2 tons

Morito, Mexico, 11 tons

Jilin, China, stone meteorite impact pit

Jilin, China, stone meteorite, 1.7 tons, fall, March 8, 1976

Jilin, China, 1.7 ton stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite)

Norton County, Kansas, 1 ton, stone meteorite (aubrite), fall, February 18, 1948.

The flight-oriented Horace, Kansas, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite. Find, 1940; side view.

The flight-oriented Horace, Kansas, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite. Find, 1940; front view.

Benld, Illinois, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite) fall, September 29, 1938.

Sylacauga, Alabama, stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite) fall, November 30, 1954, weight 5.6 kg. Hit roof, crashed through ceiling,

and hit Mrs. Hodges on the upper thigh.

Sylacauga, Alabama, stone meteorite (ordinary

chondrite) fall, November 30, 1954,

weight 5.6 kg. Hit roof, crashed through ceiling, and hit

Mrs. Hodges on the upper thigh.

Peekskill, N.Y. stone meteorite (ordinary chondrite), fall, October 9, 1992, weight 12.6 kg. Hit Michelle Knapp’s car parked before her house.

Damage to Michelle Knapp’s car, by the fall of the Peekskill stone meteorite fall, October 9, 1992.

The happy Knapp family with the Keepskill stone meyeorite

The Keepskill ordinary chondrite