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#Finding and identifying meteorites

How meteorites are found, how to tell one from an Earth rock, and the safe, legal way to hunt.

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Lessons (5)

The journey through the atmosphereEvery meteorite survived one of the most violent journeys in nature. Here we follow a meteoroid from the edge of space to the ground, step b
Meteorwrongs: rocks that fool peopleLots of people find a strange rock and hope it is a meteorite. Most turn out to be meteorwrongs. Learning about them makes you a much better
What do meteorites look like?Meteorites have a few special clues that can help you recognise them. Learning these clues is the first step to becoming a meteorite detecti
When a meteorite fallsWhat really happens when a space rock falls to the ground? The answer might surprise you.
Where are meteorites found?Meteorites fall all over the Earth, but they are much easier to find in some places than others.

Courses (6)

Fireballs, camera networks and recoveryModern camera networks can turn a few seconds of light into a meteorite in a museum within days. This lesson explains how, and how members o
Identifying a possible meteoriteMost rocks people suspect are meteorites turn out to be Earth rocks or industrial slag.
Heating and melting: the fusion crustDuring entry the surface of a meteoroid is heated to melting in seconds. Specific heat capacity and specific latent heat explain why the cru
Meteorites and magnetsMost meteorites contain iron metal, so most of them are attracted to a magnet. This lesson shows how a magnet helps scientists, and why it c
The fiery fall through the airA meteoroid hits the air at tremendous speed. In this lesson you will find out why it glows, why its outside melts and how it slows down bef
Drag, terminal velocity and dark flightAfter the bright fireball ends, a meteorite still has kilometres to fall. This lesson uses balanced and unbalanced forces to explain how fas

Famous meteorites (10)

BarwellOn Christmas Eve 1965 a shower of stones fell on a Leicestershire village, the largest meteorite fall recorded in Britain.
BrenhamA Kansas farmer's wife collected heavy black rocks for years – and proved scientists wrong about where they came from.
GibeonA prehistoric shower of iron across southern Namibia, whose crystal patterns now gleam on watch faces and rings.
HolbrookIn 1912 thousands of stones rained down near a railway station in the Arizona desert – and people are still finding them.
L'AigleThe 1803 shower of stones in Normandy that finally convinced scientists rocks really do fall from the sky. Today it seems obvious that rocks
MbaleIn 1992 hundreds of stones rained on a town in eastern Uganda – and one small piece bounced off a banana tree onto a boy's head.
MillbillillieA eucrite that fell in the Western Australian outback in 1960, famous for its glossy black fusion crust.
MuonionalustaAn iron meteorite from Arctic Sweden that fell long before the last ice age – and was carried by glaciers before anyone found it.
PultuskIn 1868 a fireball over Poland released one of the largest showers of stones ever recorded – tens of thousands of them.
Sikhote-AlinIn 1947 an iron meteoroid shattered over the Russian Far East, raining tonnes of metal and blasting more than 100 craters.

Glossary (19)

Questions and answers (28)

Can a metal detector find stony meteorites?Often yes, because most stony meteorites contain iron-nickel metal grains, but signals are weak and depend on the detector, the stone and th
Can children be meteorite hunters?Yes! Children can learn to recognise meteorites, help search fields with adults, watch for fireballs and report them. Sharp eyes matter more
Can I find meteorites in my garden?It's possible but very unlikely. Meteorites have occasionally landed in gardens, but most garden 'meteorites' turn out to be sla
Can I find meteorites in the UK?It's possible but rare. Britain's wet climate makes meteorites rust away and its green landscape hides them, so almost all British m
Can meteorites be found in rivers or streams?Rarely. Meteorites in water rust quickly and get mixed with river pebbles, but iron meteorites have occasionally been found in stream beds.
Can slag be mistaken for a meteorite?Yes, very often. Slag, the glassy waste from smelting metal, can be dark, heavy, magnetic and rusty, but it is usually full of gas bubbles,
Do I need permission to hunt for meteorites?Yes. Always get permission from the landowner, and check national and local laws, because some countries treat meteorites as state property
Does a metal detector help find meteorites?Yes, for iron meteorites and most ordinary chondrites, which contain iron-nickel metal.
How can I make a model meteorite?Mix modelling clay or salt dough with small beads for chondrules and silver glitter for metal, shape it into a lump and paint the outside bl
How can I make replica meteorites for class activities?Mix plaster or clay with small beads for chondrules and iron filings or steel shot for metal, shape them, and paint the outside black to mod
How can I run a 'meteorite or meteorwrong?' activity?Give groups a set of rocks, including slag, iron ore and basalt, and ask them to test each with simple, safe observations: magnet, weight, s
How can I run a meteorite-themed escape room?Create a sequence of puzzles based on meteorite science, such as decoding names, density calculations and identifying chondrules, leading to
How can I teach geography through Antarctic meteorite hunting?Antarctic meteorite hunting links to ice sheets, glacier flow, extreme environments, international cooperation and the Antarctic Treaty.
How can I tell if my rock is a meteorite?Look for a thin dark fusion crust, unusual weight for the size, attraction to a magnet and, on a broken face, metal flecks or small round gr
How can I use outdoor learning in meteorite lessons?Run a strewn field hunt with replicas, make scale models of the Solar System across the playground, map a fireball path and test rocks found
How do I start looking for meteorites?Start by learning what real meteorites look and feel like, ideally by handling museum or dealer specimens.
How do meteorite hunters search a strewn field?They use the fireball's calculated path to target the likely area, get landowner permission, then walk slowly in organised lines, scanni
What are micrometeorites and can I collect them?Micrometeorites are tiny particles of space dust, smaller than about 2 mm, that survive their fall to Earth.
What equipment do meteorite hunters use?Hunters rely on sharp eyes, a strong magnet, a metal detector, GPS, clean bags or foil, a camera and a notebook, and increasingly on firebal
What is a meteorwrong?A meteorwrong is a rock or object that looks like a meteorite but isn't. Common examples include industrial slag, iron ores such as magn
What is a strewn field?A strewn field is the area over which pieces of a single meteorite fall are scattered, usually an oval shape several kilometres long, with t
What is fusion crust and how do I recognise it?Fusion crust is the thin glassy skin that forms when a meteorite's surface melts during its fiery fall.
What is it like to hunt meteorites in the desert?Desert hunting means long walks or drives across stony plains in heat, scanning for dark stones, with careful planning for water, navigation
What is the streak test?The streak test means rubbing a rock across an unglazed white ceramic tile to see the colour of its powder.
What should I take on a meteorite hunt?A strong magnet on a stick, a GPS or phone, a camera, clean foil or bags, labels and pen, water, sun or weather protection, and the landowne
What was the Holbrook meteorite shower?On 19 July 1912, an estimated 14,000 or more stones fell near Holbrook, Arizona, in one of the largest meteorite showers in North America.
Why are so many meteorites found in deserts?Deserts are dry, so meteorites rust very slowly and can survive for tens of thousands of years.
Why does a meteorite have a black crust?The black skin is fusion crust: the meteorite's surface melted during its fiery plunge through the atmosphere and then froze into a thin

Micrometeorites (1)

Equipment and photography for micrometeorite huntingA micrometeorite hunt needs only modest equipment to begin, but good optics and lighting make the difference between seeing a black dot and

People (4)

Harvey NiningerThe schoolteacher who became the greatest meteorite hunter of the twentieth century, finding hundreds of new meteorites across the American
Jean-Baptiste BiotThe young physicist whose report on the 1803 fall at L'Aigle convinced the scientific world that meteorites come from the sky.
Robert HaagThe Arizona meteorite hunter and dealer who travelled the world in search of fresh falls from the 1970s onwards.
Steve ArnoldThe American meteorite hunter who dug up a 650-kilogram pallasite at Brenham, Kansas, in 2005.

Hunting and collecting (1)

Meteor-wrongs: the rocks that fool peopleHow to tell a meteorite from slag, magnetite, hematite, basalt, concretions, industrial iron, chert, obsidian and other look-alikes, with si

Strewn fields (18)

The Aguas Zarcas strewn fieldA shower of rare carbon-rich stones that crashed through a house roof and hit a doghouse in the Costa Rican countryside.
The Allende strewn fieldThe largest carbonaceous chondrite ever found, spread along a 50-kilometre field in the Chihuahua desert.
The Almahata Sitta strewn fieldThe first asteroid spotted in space before it hit Earth, and the first strewn field searched along a track predicted in advance.
The Brenham strewn fieldA prehistoric pallasite shower on Kansas farmland, with one of the smallest impact craters known. Masses are scattered over the farmland aro
The Campo del Cielo strewn fieldA crater field on the Gran Chaco plains that has given up more than 100 tonnes of iron, including two of the heaviest meteorites known.
The Chelyabinsk strewn fieldThe airburst that shattered windows across a city, then scattered thousands of small stones and one giant into a frozen lake.
The Gibeon strewn fieldOne of the largest strewn fields on Earth: a prehistoric shower of fine-patterned iron across southern Namibia.
The Holbrook strewn fieldAbout 14,000 stones, most no bigger than peas, that are still being found in the Arizona desert more than a century later.
The Jilin strewn fieldA shower that included the heaviest stony meteorite ever seen to fall, a 1,770-kilogram stone that punched deep into frozen ground.
The Košice strewn fieldA night-time fall recorded by security cameras in Hungary, whose strewn field became a model of careful mapping.
The L'Aigle strewn fieldThe first strewn field ever mapped, which helped persuade scientists that stones really do fall from the sky.
The Mbale strewn fieldA shower over a busy town near Mount Elgon, in which a small fragment struck a boy after being slowed by banana leaves.
The Murchison strewn fieldA Sunday-morning shower of carbon-rich stones over a country town in Victoria, which became one of the most studied rocks in the world.
The Pułtusk strewn fieldOne of the most abundant showers ever recorded: tens of thousands of stones, the famous 'Pultusk peas', over snow and river ice.
The Sikhote-Alin strewn fieldThe largest iron meteorite shower ever witnessed, which peppered a snowy forest with more than a hundred craters.
The Sutter's Mill strewn fieldA fragile carbonaceous fall in California gold country, found with the help of weather radar.
The Tissint strewn fieldOnly the fifth Martian meteorite seen to fall, its glossy black stones gathered from a remote desert valley months later.
The Winchcombe strewn fieldThe first meteorite fall recovered in Britain for 30 years, found on a driveway and in a sheep field thanks to doorbell cameras and careful