What is a Meteorite

A meteorite is the solid material of a meteoroid that survives passing through the atmosphere to reach the earth's surface.

Tons of space dust and debris bombard the Earth every day. Most of this material is so small that it completely burns up in the atmosphere. We refer to these burning fragments as Shooting Stars, and large numbers of meteroids raining down are called meteor showers.

Meteorites are fragments that survive the journey and land on Earth. Most are presumed to be fragments of irregular rocky objects called asteroids, but some are fragements of larger bodies like the Moon and Mars. Meteorites provide clues to understanding cosmic processes such as planet formation.

Meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere at speeds ranging from 31,000 miles per hour to 100,000 miles per hour! At first they burn on the surface and possibly explode from the shock.

Brenham	Odessa
Gibeon	Canyon Diablo