Description
A meteorite is the part of a meteoroid that impacts Earth after falling through the atmosphere from space. During its journey through the atmosphere, the material slows down significantly and becomes very hot; this can be seen as a meteor. Essentially, a meteorite is debris from space. The composition of meteorites can sometimes determine their origin. For example, more than twenty have been found that originated on the moon. This involves material knocked off the moon by another meteorite. Meteorites such as ALH84001 have also been found, originating from Mars. In many cases, however, the meteorite originates from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Whether meteorites of cometary origin also exist is still under debate. It is possible that some rare, very fragile types of carbonaceous meteorites originate from short-period comets. Much of the debris that comes into contact with the atmosphere does not reach Earth but burns up due to atmospheric drag. The fragments that burn up are visible at night as meteors, also called star showers or shooting stars. Larger pieces that don't burn up completely but fall partially to Earth as meteorites form a bolide (fireball) as they pass through the atmosphere. The impressive phenomenon can be demonstrated, for example, by the Sikhote-Alin bolide. It was clearly visible in broad daylight. The fireball caused by the Dutch Glanerbrug meteorite from April 1990 was visible just before sunset.
The Mundrabilla meteorite is one of the largest meteorites ever found on Earth. The first fragment was discovered in Australia in 1911. The Mundrabilla meteorite is an iron meteorite found in Australia in 1911, one of the largest meteorites ever found, with a total known weight of 22 tonnes and the main mass (the largest fragment) weighing 12.4 tonnes. In 1911, a 112-gram iron meteorite fragment was found by Harry Kent, foreman in charge of camels for the Western Australian survey of the transcontinental railway, at 31°1′S, 127°23′E, at Premier Downs Station on the Nullarbor. Common. The small meteorite was named Premier Downs I. Later in 1911, Kent found another small iron meteorite (116 g) about 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) west of the location of Premier Downs I, named Premier Downs II. Both meteorites were medium-sized octahedrites, believed to have been part of the same fall. It has been suggested that the Mundrabilla meteorites are closely related to the Loongana Station and Premier Downs meteorites, and fell from the same mass during atmospheric ablation. Mundrabilla I, the main mass of 12.4 tons, is now held in the Western Australia Museum.
