Meteorites are stony or iron fragments from comets, asteroids or even planets that have survived passage through the atmosphere to reach the Earth’s surface. AOP’s meteorite collection can be seen in the Planetarium’s Exhibition area.
- stony meteorites are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals;
- iron meteorites that are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel;
- stony-iron meteorites that contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material.
Modern classification schemes divide meteorites further into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. The stony meteorites are the most common and can be divided into chondrites and achondrites, both made of silicate materials.
Chondrites are named for their most prominent feature – millimetre-sized spherical bodies called chondrules. These formed 4.6 billion years ago in the Solar Nebula, the cloud of gas and dust from which our Solar System formed.
The Bovedy Meteorite
In April 1969 this rock fell from space onto farmland in Bovedy in Co. Derry. It is part of a larger meteorite which entered the atmosphere over the Bristol Channel, raced across Wales releasing a sonic boom and then broke up in an orange flash over Northern Ireland.
This is the biggest chunk and the farmer on whose land it fell donated the meteorite to AOP.
The Bovedy is an ordinary chondrite in which the small colourful grains – chondrules – are particularly clear.
The Bovedy Meteorite was the first meteorite whose sound was recorded when passing through the Earth’s atmosphere. Eileen Brown was recording bird sounds in Bangor, Co. Down when she thought she heard thunder out of a clear sky. It was in fact the Bovedy Meteorite.
Campo del Cielo Meteorite
You may touch this meteorite, probably the oldest thing you ever will touch!
This is an iron meteorite and weights about 140 kg, the weight of two people.
It is a fragment from a planet’s core, shattered by a collision in space, and formed during the birth of our Solar System 4.6 billion years ago. The meteorite landed in Argentina about 4,000 years ago.
The Crumlin Meteorite
A polished piece of chondrite that landed near Crumlin in Co. Antrim in 1902. Flecks of iron metal are clearly visible.
The Zagami Shergottite
A part of the Zagami meteorite, which landed in Nigeria in 1962. It is believed to be a fragment of the surface of Mars.
Lunar Meteorite Slice
A slice of a meteorite found in Morocco in 2009 which originated from the Moon. There is a close similarity between its chemical composition and rocks collected on the Apollo 16 mission from the Moon.
Smaller Canyon Diablo Meteorite
Part of an iron meteorite which exploded when it hit the ground in Arizona, USA. The main impactor was about 50 m across and left a crater 1 km across when it struck the Earth – the well-known Barringer Meteor Crater. Many pieces broke away before impact, including this one, found in the Canyon Diablo in Arizona.
Allende Meteorite Slice
Part of a meteorite shower which fell in Allende in Mexico in 1969. It is a chondrite meteorite and, like most, has a dark outer crust burnt by intense heat as it hurtled through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Seymchan Pallasite Slice
This is a fragment from a 270 kg meteorite found in Seymchan in Russia in 1967. Pallasites are a kind of strony-iron meteorite.