![]() Rhian Jones of the Institute of Meteoritics in Albuquerque explains: "Chondrules were heated until they melted and then cooled again very quickly, in just a few hours. Their exact origin remains something of a mystery. Chondrites take their name from the chondrules they contain - small grain-like spheres of varying sizes and colors.Ĭhondrules are never found in terrestrial rocks and are believed to have formed within the solar nebula disk, billions of years ago, and therefore predate the planets and asteroids that now make up the Solar System. Ordinary chondrites are the most common type of meteorite, but they are still rarer than platinum or diamonds. ![]() They have come to us from space, can give us clues to the makeup of our neighboring celestial bodies, and can even help us to understand how the Solar System evolved so the term ordinary chondrite might seem a little misleading. There is nothing commonplace about meteorites. Those that survive to land on the surface are known as meteorites. Some of this debris crossed our planet's path, hitting the atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour, burning briefly in the cold, thin air and producing the spectacle we call meteors or shooting stars. Cosmic collisions caused some of these wandering space nomads to break up, hurling fragments in different directions. However, the vast majority of stone meteorites were once part of the crust of asteroids. A few specialists have theorized that some meteorites may even be remnants of comet nuclei. ![]() A comparatively small number of meteorites are known to have come to us from two of our closest neighbors-Mars, and our own moon. Most meteorites that have fallen upon our planet originated within the Asteroid Belt, which lies between Mars and the gas giant Jupiter. So, one might use a little artistic license and say that our planet is living, in addition to being unique in the Solar System. With the enormous tectonic plates that make up the Earth's crust moving, causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the ground we stand upon is constantly changing. In addition many of the sedimentary rocks that make up the Earth's crust are rich in fossils-the remains of ancient life forms-but so far no fossil record of life on other planets has been discovered. Our planet's surface has been shaped and altered by the relentless action of rain, wind, and ice. In geologic terms it is our planet's crust, which a dictionary might define as "the outermost solid layer of a planet or moon." The outer crust of our planet is very different from other bodies in the Solar System, as it is rich in oxygen and water. The landscape that reveals itself to us is, obviously, only the surface of our home planet. Take a pensive look outside the window of your car while you are driving, or better yet, watch the hills, valleys and plains roll by as you travel on-board a train or airplane. Photograph by Leigh Anne DelRay, copyright Aerolite Meteorites. This small, complete individual is only 7.4 grams in weight. Unlike most meteorites, eucrites are not rich in iron, and will not adhere Note theĮxceptionally glossy black fusion crust, which is typical of eucrites. InĬompositional terms eucrites are quite similar to basalts found on Earth,Īnd they may have originated on the large asteroid Vesta. Camel Donga is a rare type of achondrite known as a eucrite.
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