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Planetary Science

Meteorite

Definition

A solid piece of debris from a meteoroid or asteroid that survives passage through Earth's atmosphere. Classified as stony, iron, or stony-iron, meteorites provide valuable information about the solar system's composition and age.

Related Terms

Meteor

The streak of light when space debris burns up in Earth's atmosphere. Called a shooting star, it becomes visible at heig...

Meteoroid

A small rocky or metallic body in space, from grain-of-sand to one-meter size. When entering Earth's atmosphere, it crea...

Asteroid

A small rocky body orbiting the Sun, primarily found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids range from...

Explore Related Topics

Dive deeper into meteorite and related concepts on Cosmos Observatory.

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Surface imagery from Curiosity and Perseverance.

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Monitor near-Earth objects in real time.

Full Glossary

Browse all 66+ space and astronomy terms.

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