Images Dated 29th January 1998

Meteorite found in Arizona, USA

Meteorite. Meteorite found in Arizona, USA. The metal cube with it is one centimetre square. Met- eorites are lumps of rock & metal that strike the Earth without being burnt up as they fall through the atmosphere. Most of them are fragments from asteroids or comets, though some are fragments of the Moon or other planets which were thrown into space by a meteorite impact. Meteorites can give valuable information about the composition of the early solar system or other planets. Meteorites may contain metals such as iron or nickel, and rocky material such as silicates. About 500 meteorites strike the Earth each year; their speed at impact is about 300 kilometres per hour

© DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY