Meteorite

Article By:

Gooding, James L. Planetary Materials Branch, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, Texas.

Lipschutz, Michael E. Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

Hewins, Roger H. Department of Geological Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Wright Geological Laboratory, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey.

Stolper, Edward M. Division of Geological and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.

Scott, Edward R. D. Institute of Meteoritics, Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Zinner, Ernst McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Melosh, H. J. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

Last reviewed:December 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.420500

A naturally occurring solid object from interplanetary space that survives impact on a planetary surface. While in space, the object is called a meteoroid and a meteor if it produces light or other visual effects as it passes through a planetary atmosphere. Various sounds, including hissing and thunderous detonations, have also been reported for large meteors arriving at Earth. Explosive surface impacts by large meteorites are believed to have created the plethora of craters on the solid planets and moons of the solar system. Meteor Crater, Arizona, is Earth's most famous example of an impact crater. See also: Meteor; Micrometeorite

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