Meteorite



Meteorites are small pieces or rock or ice from asteroids and comets which enter the Earth's atmosphere and survives impact with the Earth's surface. They range from small grains to large pieces with feet (or meters) in diameter. Some are so large that they strike the Earth's surface, leaving enormous craters.

The term meteorite is also used to refer to small pieces or rock or ice hitting the moon and other planets.

Quotes

"Counting the number of asteroids we see in the sky suggests that over the past 250 million years, Earth should have been hit around 440 times by asteroids larger than one kilometre across. But scientists have found only 38 large impact craters from this period." New Scientist December 2002 (Quoted from: http://www.nwcreation.net/young.html ).