New study reveals how space rocks become meteorites
What happens to a space rock as it falls through Earth's atmosphere and becomes a meteorite?
What happens to a space rock as it falls through Earth's atmosphere and becomes a meteorite?
The short version
- By studying 75 meteorite falls captured on video and in photographs, researchers identified seven distinct phases in the journey from space rock to meteorite.
- Their findings show that melting and fragmentation, rather than simply evaporation and "burning up," control how a rock loses mass, slows down and ultimately reaches the ground.
- The journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science published these findings.
What happened
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Why it matters
"We used to think that solid rocks would evaporate from the enormous heat and brilliant light generated in collisions with air," said meteor astronomer and lead author Dr.
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