How do meteorites form?
Old dust makes new rocks
Meteorites come from many different sources. A meteorite is a piece of rock from outerspace that strikes the surface of the Earth. It is believed that meteorites formed from dust from the early solar system. The dust clumped together. Perhaps electrical charges or gravitational attraction made this happen. The clumps melted. We are uncertain of the reasons for the melting. Heat from star systems may have caused it--or radioactivity in the clumps themselves. When the clumps melted, small spheres were formed. These are chondrules. This would mean that they are very old. Scientists have used radiometric dating to measure the ages of meteorites. The results show ages of around 4,500,000,000 years--about seven hundred million years older than the oldest rocks on Earth. Some Meteorites were once comets, that broke up in smaller parts due to strong forces, when they pass the strong gravity of the sun, or when they heat up... They are called meteors just because they fall on earth, mostly in showers.
Lunar meteorite
An unattractive rock that could pass for a cinder or piece of slag. It weighed 23 grams, just less than an ounce.
Is this a burnt rock?
No, it's a meteorite showing it's black fusion crust.
It was a race against time for researchers to dig out a meteorite that’s older than our planet. The team from Curtin University found the rock in Lake Eyre on New Year’s Eve, just hours before it would have washed away.