Where can I see meteorites in a museum?
Many natural history museums display meteorites. In Britain the Natural History Museum in London and National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh have notable collections, and major museums in Vienna, Paris, New York and Washington, DC, hold some of the world's finest.
Seeing a real meteorite up close is one of the best ways to understand them, and many natural history museums have at least a few. In the UK, the Natural History Museum in London holds one of the world's great meteorite collections, including historic British falls such as Wold Cottage, and it led the study of the Winchcombe meteorite that fell in 2021. National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh also has meteorites on display, and regional museums sometimes display a meteorite from their own area.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Natural History Museum in Vienna has a long-established and famously large meteorite display, and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris has historic material including pieces of L'Aigle, the 1803 fall that helped convince scientists that rocks fall from the sky. In the United States, the American Museum of Natural History in New York displays the huge Willamette iron and Ahnighito, the largest piece of the Cape York meteorite, while the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, curates the national meteorite collection, including Antarctic specimens.
Some giants stay where they landed. The Hoba iron in Namibia, the largest known single meteorite, lies at its find site and can be visited, and large Campo del Cielo masses are on show in Argentina. Universities with planetary science departments sometimes have small public displays too.
Displays change and items go on loan, so check opening times and what is currently exhibited before travelling. Many museums also run identification services or public events where you can handle a meteorite under supervision. Holding a piece of an asteroid that formed some 4.5 billion years ago is an experience few visitors forget.