#Observed falls
Meteorites that people saw fall, picked up soon after landing.
Famous meteorites (4)
- ChassignySeen to fall in France in 1815, this olivine-rich stone was the first known Martian meteorite to be witnessed falling.
- JilinIn 1976 a meteorite shower over north-east China included a single stone of about 1,770 kilograms – the largest stony meteorite ever seen to
- Wold CottageEngland's largest single meteorite landed beside a Yorkshire ploughman in 1795 – and helped prove that stones fall from the sky.
- ZagamiA piece of Martian lava that landed close to a Nigerian farmer in 1962 – the largest single Martian stone ever seen to fall.
Meteorite types (23)
- AubritesPale, almost iron-free rocks made of enstatite, from an extremely oxygen-poor world.
- BrachinitesOlivine-rich rocks from an asteroid whose melt drained away. Named after Brachina in South Australia, brachinites are made mostly of iron-ri
- CH chondrites'High metal' carbonaceous chondrites with tiny chondrules. CH chondrites are rich in iron-nickel metal, about 20% of the rock by vol
- CM chondritesWater-rich carbonaceous chondrites full of organic molecules, Murchison and Winchcombe among them.
- CO chondritesSmall-chondrule carbonaceous chondrites, close relatives of the CMs. CO chondrites, named after Ornans in France, have very small chondrules
- DiogenitesPyroxene-rich rocks from deep inside Vesta. Diogenites are coarse-grained rocks made mostly of orthopyroxene, sometimes with olivine.
- EL chondritesLow-iron enstatite chondrites. EL chondrites have less metal than EH chondrites and contain alabandite, a manganese sulphide, instead of nin
- EucritesVolcanic basalt from the crust of Vesta. Eucrites are basalts and gabbros from Vesta's crust, made mainly of pigeonite (a calcium-poor p
- H chondritesHigh-iron ordinary chondrites: about a third of all meteorites seen to fall. H chondrites have the highest total iron of the ordinary chondr
- HowarditesBroken rubble from the surface of asteroid Vesta, mixing crust and mantle rocks. Howardites are regolith breccias: rocks made from the broke
- IIE ironsIrons full of silicate fragments, possibly from asteroid Hebe. IIE irons are octahedrites of varying coarseness that often contain silicate
- L chondritesLow-iron ordinary chondrites: the single most common group of meteorites. L chondrites have less metal than H chondrites, typically 4% to 10
- LL chondritesLow iron, low metal: the ordinary chondrites matched to asteroid Itokawa. LL chondrites have the least metal of the ordinary chondrites, onl
- LodranitesCoarse-grained leftovers after melt drained away. Named after Lodran in Pakistan, which fell in 1868, lodranites are coarser-grained than ac
- MesosideritesJumbled breccias of metal and basalt, made in a violent collision. Mesosiderites are breccias of roughly equal parts iron-nickel metal and s
- Ordinary chondritesThe everyday meteorite: four in every five falls. Three groups, H, L and LL, from at least three asteroids.
- PallasitesGem-like olivine crystals set in iron-nickel metal. Pallasites contain large olive-green crystals of olivine embedded in iron-nickel metal.
- R chondrites (rumurutiites)Highly oxidised chondrites with almost no metal. R chondrites are named after Rumuruti in Kenya, the only one seen to fall (1934).
- ShergottitesThe most common Martian meteorites: young basaltic and olivine-rich rocks. Shergottites, named after Shergotty in India (fell 1865), make up
- Stony-iron meteoritesRoughly equal parts metal and silicate. Rare, and among the most beautiful meteorites.
- Stony meteoritesMeteorites made mostly of silicate minerals. They are by far the most common kind seen to fall.
- UreilitesCarbon-rich rocks with diamonds, from an asteroid shattered by a giant impact. One was tracked in space before it hit Earth.
- WinonaitesPrimitive achondrites related to the silicate inclusions in IAB irons. Named after the Winona meteorite, found buried in a Sinagua ruin in A
Glossary (1)
Questions and answers (9)
- Are Martian and lunar meteorites valuable?Yes, they are among the most sought-after meteorites because they are rare and come from worlds people have barely visited.
- 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
- Has a meteorite ever been seen to fall in the UK?Yes. Britain has a couple of dozen recorded falls, including Wold Cottage in Yorkshire in 1795, Barwell in Leicestershire in 1965, Glatton i
- How often do meteorites fall?Meteorites land somewhere on Earth every day, but most drop into the sea or onto empty land and are never seen.
- What are the largest meteorites to fall in Britain?The largest single stone seen to fall in Britain is Wold Cottage (Yorkshire, 1795) at about 25 kg, while the largest total mass from one fal
- What is the most common type of meteorite to fall?Ordinary chondrites, especially L and H types, make up about four out of five witnessed falls.
- What is the oldest recorded meteorite fall?The oldest witnessed fall with a surviving specimen is generally accepted to be the Nōgata meteorite, which fell in Japan on 19 May 861 CE a
- Why are witnessed falls more useful to science than finds?Falls are fresh, unweathered and unbiased by searching, often with known orbits, so they give the clearest view of what reaches Earth and of
- Why do collectors prize witnessed falls?Witnessed falls are prized because they are fresh and unweathered, their date and place are known exactly, and they carry a dramatic, docume
Britain and Ireland (1)
- The Rowton meteoriteThe only iron meteorite ever seen to fall in Britain, dug from a Shropshire field with a walking stick.