meteorite

Everyday

A meteorite is a piece of rock or metal from space that has fallen through the air and landed on the Earth's surface. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about space, three words are taught together: a meteoroid is a small rock travelling in space; a meteor is the streak of light («shooting star») when it burns in our air; a meteorite is the piece that reaches the ground. Many meteorites are older than the Earth itself. A giant one hit the Earth about 66 million years ago and helped wipe out the dinosaurs. Meteorites are often heavy because they contain iron. Phrases: «meteorite impact», «meteorite crater», «iron meteorite».

Examples

• The museum has a meteorite you can touch. tree →
• A meteorite made this huge crater in Arizona. tree →
• Most meteorites land in the sea, because most of Earth is water. tree →
• Scientists found meteorites on the ice in Antarctica. tree →
• The meteorite was heavy because it was made mostly of iron. tree →
• A meteor that reaches the ground becomes a meteorite. tree →
• Some meteorites came from Mars or the Moon. tree →

Note

Plural «meteorites». Trap: meteor (the flash in the sky) vs meteorite (the rock on the ground) vs meteoroid (rock in space); the «-ite» ending is like «rock». Myth: most meteorites are cool or just warm when they land, not red hot.