Ablation: Mass loss from a meteoroid as it passes through the atmosphere, due to melting or fragmentation.
Achondrite: A stony meteorite without chondrules, formed by melting on its parent asteroid.
Asteroid: A rocky or metallic object in space, often the source of meteorites.
Atmospheric Entry: The process of a meteoroid entering a planet’s atmosphere and heating up due to friction.
Bolide: An extremely bright meteor, often exploding in the sky.
Breccia: A rock made of broken fragments of other rocks, often formed by impacts.
Brecciation: The process of forming breccia from rock fragmentation and re-cementing.
Chondrite: A common type of stony meteorite that contains small mineral spheres called chondrules.
Chondrule: Tiny, rounded grains formed by rapid cooling of molten droplets in space.
Cosmochemistry: The study of chemical elements in meteorites and other space materials.
Crater: A bowl-shaped depression formed by a meteorite impact.
Differentiation: The process by which a celestial body separates into layers (core, mantle, crust).
Distal Ejecta: Impact debris that travels and lands far from the crater.
Ejecta: Material blasted out of a crater during an impact.
Ejecta Blanket: A layer of debris surrounding an impact crater.
Fall: A meteorite recovered after being seen falling.
Find: A meteorite discovered without observing its fall.
Hypervelocity Impact: An impact occurring at extreme speed, creating shock waves, melting, and vaporization.
Hugoniot Curve: A graph showing how materials change under shock pressures.
Impactite: Rock altered or formed by a meteorite impact, including melts and shocked rocks.
Impact Melt: Rock that was melted during an impact event and later solidified.
Impact Structure: The entire geological feature resulting from a meteorite impact.
Impact Breccia: A breccia formed from an impact, containing both rock fragments and melt.
Lithic Clast: A fragment of rock embedded within another rock, often seen in breccias.
Lithology: The physical description of a rock, including grain size and mineral content.
Meteoroid: A small object in space that may enter an atmosphere and become a meteorite.
Meteorite: A rock from space that survives entry through the atmosphere and lands on Earth.
Microtektite: A tiny glass bead formed from terrestrial material during an impact.
Meteorite Classification: The system for categorizing meteorites based on composition and structure.
Main Mass: The largest fragment recovered from a meteorite fall.
Parent Body: The original asteroid or planet where a meteorite came from.
Planar Deformation Features (PDFs): Microscopic shock features in minerals, unique to impact events.
Pseudotachylite: A dark, glassy rock formed by melting due to high-speed impacts or faulting.
Shocked Rock: Rock that has been changed by the pressure of an impact event.
Simple Crater: A small, bowl-shaped impact crater without complex features.
Strewn Field: The area over which meteorite fragments are scattered after a break-up in the atmosphere.
Suevite: A breccia containing both rock fragments and impact glass, typical of large impact sites.
Shock Metamorphism: Changes in rocks caused by extreme pressure and temperature from impacts.
Shock Stage: A scale used to describe how much shock a meteorite has experienced.
Tektite: Natural glass formed when Earth rocks are melted and ejected by a meteorite impact.
Target Rock: The Earth rock that gets hit and altered during a meteorite impact.
Transient Cavity: The initial hole formed during an impact, before collapsing into a final crater.
Trace Element: A chemical element in tiny amounts, useful for studying meteorite origins.
Ureilite: A rare meteorite type with unique minerals and carbon-rich material.
Undifferentiated: Describes a meteorite or body that hasn’t been melted or layered.
Volatile Elements: Elements that evaporate easily; useful for studying meteorite heating history.
Vesicle: A small bubble cavity in volcanic or impact glass formed by trapped gas.
Widmanstätten Pattern: A cross-hatched metal crystal pattern found in some iron meteorites.
Witnessed Fall: A meteorite fall seen by observers before recovery.
Weathering Grade: A measure of how much a meteorite has changed from Earth’s environment.
Yardang Field: A desert landscape of wind-shaped ridges, sometimes where meteorites are found.
Zoned Olivine: A mineral growth pattern that reveals cooling history in meteorites.
