Earth's Oldest Rocks Could Have Been Formed by Meteorite Impacts
Some of the Earth’s oldest rocks may have formed from the high temperatures of meteorite impacts, a new study reports.
Meteorite Hunters Find Remains of Last Month's Botswana Fireball
Last month, a fireball lit up the skies over Botswana just hours after scientists first spotted the space rock hurtling toward Earth. Researchers from Botswana, South Africa, Finland, and the United States have now found pieces of the meteorite.
Small Asteroid Strikes Africa Just Hours After It Was Spotted
A meteor lit up the sky over Botswana, Africa, early Saturday evening. Scientists discovered the six-foot-wide asteroid just hours before it reached Earth.
Diamonds Packed Inside Rare Meteorite Offer Clues to a Destroyed Planet
Back in 2008, an 80-ton meteor exploded over the Nubian Desert of Sudan, showering the region with hundreds of tiny rocks. New research suggests the diamonds packed inside these meteorites could have only formed within a planetary body the size of Mercury or Mars—a planet that no longer exists.
The Meteorite Hunters Who Trade in Precious Space Debris
On January 16th 2018, a bright flash lit up the sky over Michigan, accompanied by a loud boom. Caught on dash cams and home surveillance systems, the meteor briefly turned night to day as it streaked to the ground at almost 36,000 miles per hour, causing a blast wave equivalent to a minor earthquake.
This Giant Fireball Over Michigan Was Visible From Six States and Canada
The National Weather Service says that the most likely explanation for an object which sent out illumination and a sonic boom throughout southwest Michigan, five other states, and Canada on Tuesday night was the breakup of a meteor, WXYZ reported. The American Meteor Society collected at least 200 reports of the…
Did a Meteorite Start a Forest Fire in New Hampshire? It's Unlikely
A three-alarm forest fire in the White Mountains near Woodstock, New Hampshire was linked to reports of a meteorite strike, the Boston Globe reported on Wednesday.
NASA's Asteroid-Hunting Spacecraft Just Got an Amazing Side-Quest
Right now, OSIRIS-REx is one of the busiest spacecrafts in the solar system. OSIRIS-REx, which blasted off in September 2016, has been getting ready to rendezvous with the object of its mission—an asteroid called Bennu—in order to bring back samples to Earth. But before the spacecraft links up with Bennu in 2018, it’s…
Why 466-Million-Year-Old Meteorites Are Still Raining Down on Earth
When the solar system was in its rebellious stage about 466 million years ago, two massive asteroids collided in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, sending tiny pieces of shrapnel flying all over the solar system. After examining bits of crystals that fell to Earth just before the collision, an international…
Curiosity Just Found a Freaky Metal Meteorite on Mars
NASA’s Curiosity rover is currently climbing the slopes of Mount Sharp as it ventures to its next exploration site. Earlier this week, the rover stumbled upon a tiny metallic meteorite, which features some rather peculiar features.
Astronomers Just Dug Up a 30-Ton Meteorite in Argentina
An excavating team in Argentina just pulled an over 30-ton rock out of the ground. But is it really the world’s second largest intact meteorite?
New Meteorite Offers Clues About the Origins of Life on Earth
Opals are beautiful gemstones, supposed harbingers of bad luck, and perhaps the only thing to come out of Australia that won’t kill you. According to new research from a team of British researchers, however, they’re also adding some sweet bling to a meteorite recently found in Antarctica. Beyond looking cool, the…
Geologists Found a Rock That's 'Older Than Earth' in the Australian Outback
Geologists working in Australia have recovered a primordial meteorite that fell to Earth this past November. Using an extensive camera system and some pretty sophisticated math, the researchers recovered the 4.5-billion-year-old rock just moments before heavy rains would have washed it away.
The Plan to Drill into the Crater from the Dinosaur-Killing MeteoriteÂ
Sixty-five million years ago, a meteorite careened into Earth, leaving a huge crater on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. The impact is likely responsible for killing off the most of the dinosaurs—along with 75 percent of all species on Earth. Scientists are now planning an expedition to drill into the middle of the…
That Time NASA Asked Schoolchildren To Hunt For Moon Rocks In Iowa
In 1964, NASA tried to obtain lunar rocks without actually going to the Moon. The initiative, called Project Moon Harvest, enlisted the aid of farmers and schoolkids to dig around western Iowa in search of possible lunar meteorites.
Weird Microscopic Structure Found In Martian Meteorite
Scientists have found a strange structure resembling a microbial cell inside a Martian meteorite, but they're not claiming that it's evidence of Red Planet life.
An Asteroid With Active Volcanoes Once Wandered the Early Universe
Back in 2008, astronomers detected an asteroid heading straight toward Earth. For the first time ever, they tracked the rock as it veered towards our planet and exploded over the Nubian desert. Now, pieces of the recovered meteorite are beginning to reveal its secrets—like how it once harbored an active volcano.
Why Earth's Most Abundant Mineral Only Just Got Its Name
It sounds weird, but the most abundant mineral on Earth finally got a name last week, thanks to a century-old meteorite. What? How? Why did it take so long? There were a whole confluence of reasons it took bridgmanite so long to get its name.
Chelyabinsk Meteorite Was Struck By An Asteroid Before Hitting Earth
Scientists studying the fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite have concluded that the object was separated from its parent body after being struck by an asteroid — an impact that ultimately caused it to head towards Earth. Scarily, its sister objects could still be out there.
