Monday, November 3, 2008

The Substance of Meteorites

Meteors that impact on the earth are commonly known as meteorites. There are several different types of space rock that fall to earth. A quick search of the internet about the types of meteorites yielded a fruitful harvest of information. I found this meteorite information site and learned the following about what substances make up a meteorite.

The are most common ones are made of stone and resemble earth rocks. They are placed into two sub groups called chondrites and achrondrites. Chrondrites are made up of marble sized silicates that stick together. For larger meteorites, internal pressure and heat may melt these little globules together, forming a crystalline structure. Then the meteorite is known as acrhrondritic meteorites.

Other types of meteorites are stony iron meteorites. These have sub-groups as well known as mesosiderites and pallasites. Then there are silicate iron meteorites, and iron meteorites. These are all made up of iron or nickel in various forms.

There seems to be quite a lot of different types of substances that make up meteorites and asteroids. Then there is icy material that is also found in comets. These appear to be building blocks for the rocky planets found in our solar system. Perhaps one was obliterated early in our solar system's history. Or our asteroids are simply leftovers from the early creation of our solar system. Sort of like the scrap lumber you have left over from building a house.

Source: Meteor Types Page

No comments: