Meteorite, Ector County, Texas U.S.A. Primarily Iron, part of Odessa meteor crater in Ector County, Texas. The total known weight of the Odessa meteorite that made the crater is estimated to be greater than 1,600 kg.
Have you ever seen a shooting star? These are actually pieces of rock called meteors burning up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. About 50 meteors hit the Earth’s surface each day, and millions get burnt up in our atmosphere. Nearly all meteorites start off as asteroids and come from an area called the asteroid belt, which is located between Mars and Jupiter. Sometimes these asteroids will hit each other and little pieces will break off. These pieces can then be caught by a planets gravity. If the asteroid survives its fall to the earth then it is known as a meteorite.
Little pieces of planets are sometimes also chipped off and they become meteorites which land on Earth, giving scientists a chance to study them without actually sending a space ship to pick them up.
Magnetite is often found in meteorites! To find your own magnetite, all you need to do is run a magnet through sand. You should find that little tiny grains of black "sand" sticks to the magnet, while all other sand doesn’t.
Meteorite, Northern Territory, Australia. Primarily Iron, part of Henbury meteor crater in Australia. The total known weight of the Henbury meteorite that made the crater is estimated to be greater than 2,000 kg.