Meteorites, collecting a piece of heaven

When you hold a meteorite in your hand, you're holding a particle from the formation of the solar system.

From time to time, a rock falls from space and hits the Earth - this is a meteorite. If it doesn't collided with the Earth, it's a meteoroid.

When a meteoroid falls, it heats up in the atmosphere and leaves a trail of glowing molten rock. We see that and call it a meteor.

Small rocks can be destroyed by the atmosphere and never hit the earth but some bigger ones do and, when they hit, can make an incredibly big crater!

Meteor Crater in Arizona

Barringer Crater, near Winslow, Arizona, was formed about 50,000 years ago by an iron meteor about 30-50 metres in diameter. The crater itself is 1200 metres in diameter and 200 metres deep.

Although not many meteorites are seen hitting the ground and most fall into the sea, thousands are found each year.

Meteorites can be found all over the world, but are easiest to spot in dry places, such as deserts , where they don't erode quickly and are less likely to be obscured by vegetation.

A chunk of the Murchison Meteorite

The Murchison Meteorite fell on September 28, 1969 over Murchison, Victoria in Australia. A bright fireball was seen, separating into three fragments, followed by a large cloud of smoke.

Lots of specimens were found over an area larger than 13 sq. kilometres. These specimens weighed in from 7 kg, and one big chunk weighing 680 g broke through a roof and fell into a stack of hay. Over 100 kg of this meteorite were found.

What's so fascinating about the Murchison Meteorite is the presence of organic compounds. More than 92 different amino acids have been identified to date, but only 19 of these are found on Earth.

The remaining amino acids have no apparent terrestrial source. We're getting close to the Blob here!

Micrometeorites can fall on your roof!

Rainwater will wash particles off of a roof and they collect at the drain spout. Tile roofs are best since they drain very well and don't produce many other sorts of particles or debris. However dust, plants and all other sorts of airborne material also collect at the drain spout.

To find the metallic micrometeorites, collect and dry some of the material from a deep bowl at the base of the drain spout.

Remove leaves and other debris, place the remaining material on a piece of paper and place a magnet under the paper.

Tilt and tap the paper so that all of the non-metallic particles fall off. Many of the remaining metallic particles are pieces of space dust!

Place the paper under a microscope. (You need high power to see them clearly).

Most of the particles are not from space, but the micrometeorites will show signs of their fiery trip through the atmosphere. They will be rounded and may have small pits on their surfaces.

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