Description
A meteorite is a fragment of a meteoroid that reaches Earth after falling through the atmosphere from space. During its journey through the atmosphere, the material slows down considerably and becomes extremely hot, which can be visible as a meteor. Meteorites are essentially space debris. Sometimes the origin of meteorites can be determined by their composition. For example, more than twenty meteorites have been identified that originated on the Moon, knocked off by the impact of another meteorite. Meteorites such as ALH84001 have also been found, and are known to have originated from Mars. However, many meteorites originate from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Whether there are meteorites with a cometary origin is still a matter of debate. It is possible that some rare, very brittle, carbon-rich meteorites originate from short-period comets. Much space debris that hits the atmosphere does not reach Earth and burns up due to atmospheric drag. These burned fragments are visible at night as meteors, also known as meteor showers or shooting stars. Larger fragments that don't burn up completely and fall to Earth as meteorites create a bolide, or fireball, as they pass through the atmosphere. An example of an impressive bolide is that of Sikhote-Alin, which was clearly visible even in daylight. The fireball caused by the Glanerbrug meteorite in the Netherlands in April 1990 was visible just before sunset.
