Questions tagged [meteorites]

Pieces of stone or metal originating elsewhere in the Solar System that have fallen through the atmosphere.

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1 answer
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What would happen to a person's body if they were struck with a meteorite?

Considering that this is a meteorite that has broken through the Earth's atmosphere, what would happen to one struck by a meteorite? Not a large one of any sort, but one around the size of a fist. How ...
4 votes
5 answers
2k views

Can an EMP be caused by a meteor?

I am no scientist, but I'm doing some research about asteroids and their ability to cause an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) through their impact. I found these very helpful lines on this site: What size ...
1 vote
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Calculating the amount of Iron in an unknown solid sample

So I want to take a sample of meteorite and figure out it's iron content. Whilst the overall iron content of the larger meteorite is known, how could I go about figuring this out for a given small ...
5 votes
4 answers
5k views

Are meteorites igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic rocks?

Are meteorites igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic rocks? Or do we need a new method of rock classification for them?
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82 views

Probability that the Hubble space telescope hit by Meteoroids

What if Hubble Space Telescope or International Space State hit by micrometeoroid or meteoroid? Asking because these objects are moving at a very high velocity.
2 votes
2 answers
155 views

Why does Melosh not consider the term $\vec{v}\frac{dm}{dt}$ in Newton's second law for a meteorite that loses mass by ablation?

While studying the dynamics of a meteorite entering the atmosfphere, the book "Impact Cratering - A geological Process" by H.J. Melosh considers the forces of drag, lift and gravity and compares their ...
6 votes
1 answer
556 views

meteorite-like impact of a drop of yogurt

When I throw a drop of Yogurt (through spoon) into a dish of Yogurt, it caused something like a meteor hitting the earth and something occurs similar to the place a meteor hitting the earth(Barringer ...
14 votes
2 answers
9k views

Is the Earth gaining or losing mass over time?

The earth presumably loses mass because molecules of the atmosphere disassociate and fly off into space where the solar wind carries them away. On the other hand the earth gains mass because ...
0 votes
1 answer
99 views

Regarding the theory of the origin of water on earth through meteorites, why wouldn't the water evaporate on impact?

Water on earth has been theorized to have come through comets trapped inside crystals. But why wouldn't that water evaporate on impact, and wouldn't the atmosphere at that time allow the vapours to ...
18 votes
5 answers
72k views

How do the terms comet, asteroid, meteoroid, meteor and meteorite differ?

These terms are frequently used interchangeably by the uninitiated to mean approximately a “space rock”. In practical terms, how do their meanings differ?
7 votes
3 answers
219 views

Are there any Earth-Meteorites on Earth?

A follow-on from this question, if meteorites can come from Mars, it seems they could have come from Earth and ended up back here (though I'm guessing that to be less likely). Do we have any evidence ...
-1 votes
1 answer
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Time needed for a meteorite to reach the Earth surface [duplicate]

I was wondering how to calculate the time needed for a meteorite to reach the surface of Earth given its distance from the surface. The mass of the meteorite is much smaller than that of the Earth, ...
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1 answer
71 views

Why are there more meteorite falls during April?

I was reading this article about the Nov 2015 Fireball surge. One explanation was that "... gravitational forces from Jupiter causes the Taurid meteor stream to be more heavily concentrated near Earth ...
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How to find out diameter of some crater on moon using meteorite size and velocity?

I am looking for a formula to find out the diameter of a crater using meteorite size and velocity.
2 votes
1 answer
203 views

Why are heat-shields on re-entry vehicles smooth and not textured to increase drag?

Meteorites naturally texture themselves via the formation of regmaglypts, 'thumbprint-shaped' indentations caused by ablation of their surface, during entry into the atmosphere. This appears to ...
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179 views

What are laws regarding falling meteorites and the angles of descent?

I would like to know if there is any math / laws of physics governing the angle that a meteor falls on our planet. I doubt it falls towards the center of the planet, from what footage I've seen, it ...
30 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why are there no asteroids or meteoroids with relativistic speeds?

Cosmic rays can have energies going into the $10^{20}$ eV domain. Asteroids and meteoroids originating in the solar system are probably limited in their speed because they all started out from the ...
1 vote
1 answer
49 views

Meteorite hunters Search for FIREBALLS

normally meteorite hunters search for fireballs....but they totally ignore meteor showers . why so? as far as i can think meteors in meteor showers are usually produced by small particles so they ...
9 votes
1 answer
86 views

Meteorite from Mars?

What kind(s) of science is used to determine that a meteorite is "from Mars"? How do we know that the meteorite isn't just another rock from space? How is some sort of accuracy statement developed ...
10 votes
1 answer
176 views

How scientists could say that such meteorite comes from Mars

How could scientists affirm that a meteorite comes from Mars and not from another source ? This is a probability or an absolute certainty ? How much percent ?
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2 answers
80 views

Ways to spot a comet or asteroid?

How do we spot a comet or asteroid if it does not emit light or pass infront of an object which emits light? And if such an object would be on a crash course with our planet how early would we be ...
2 votes
2 answers
329 views

Ways of verifying the origin of a meteorite?

Assume you have a small sliver of a lunar or martian meteorite (or an object asserted to be so). Without using any special scientific equipment, is it possible to verify (or give a high probability) ...
2 votes
1 answer
39 views

Is there any way to judge whether a bolide might produce a meteorite?

If you see a bolide, is there any way to judge whether it's worthwhile to try to find an impact? (I mean, short of a big "bang" and a debris cloud rising from the remains of your car...) I imagine ...
7 votes
1 answer
58 views

Meteorites from Mars?

So I've heard of meteorites "originating from Mars" (e.g. AH84001), but the phrase confuses me. I'm interested in what this means - have these rocks somehow escaped Mars' gravity and ended up here; or ...
13 votes
1 answer
3k views

From how high could have Felix Baumgartner jumped without disintegrating like a shooting star?

Today Felix Baumgartner jumped from 39 kilometres high and reached the earth safely. Just considering friction, from how high can a human jump? I expect that from a certain height, he would have ...