(rock found on Earth that is the remnant of a meteor)
A meteorite is a rock (or hunk of iron) that is the remnant
of a meteor (a meteor being the visible manifestation of a meteoroid
entering Earthatmosphere). Meteorites are found all over the
world, but some glacier formations, e.g., in the Antarctic, gather them
as time passes. A micrometeorite is a microscopic meteorite.
Meteorites have been studied, and conclusions drawn regarding their
source and origin mesh with and contribute to the history and
formation of the solar system and its planets. Some are
discerned to be fragments from impacts on the Moon, and
others from Mars, and yet others from past, broken-up
asteroids. Given these conclusions, they are valuable sources
of information about these bodies.
Many meteorites are thought to have been
orbiting the Sun for nearly its entire lifetime, revealing the
early history of the solar system. In particular, signs of melting
indicate some past time and circumstance when conditions existed
to produce it. Study has discerned numerous classes of meteorites,
some of the overall classes of high interest being:
iron meteorites.
stony meteorites.
stony-iron meteorites (with both).
Among stony meteorites:
chondrites (with embedded pieces of distinct material termed chondrules).