meteorites

Cultural  

1. Objects from outside the Earth that enter the Earth's field of gravitation and fall to the Earth's surface. Meteors, on the other hand, are objects from space that burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

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Meteorites are bodies that are left over from the time when the planets formed, and therefore give us clues about the formation of the solar system.

Example Sentences

Using roughly 100 existing datasets, the scientists examined amino acids and fatty acids from microbes, soils, fossils, meteorites, asteroids, and synthetic laboratory samples.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

Without an atmosphere to shield it, the planet is constantly exposed to intense radiation from its star and impacts from meteorites.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

"The same stuff that rained down on Mars from meteorites is what rained down on Earth, and it probably provided the building blocks for life as we know it on our planet," Williams said.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

She said: "Based on the fireball trajectory, the event occurred over the North Sea so, sadly, we do not expect any recoverable meteorites."

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Eighteenth-century English and French scientists rejected the ample testimony as to the reality of meteorites, as we reject stories of alien abduction.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton