The recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 is at risk of collision with the Earth on December 22, 2032. Although the probability of collision is calculated as 1 %, experts take this asteroid seriously. This close world asteroid, which was first seen with a strong telescope in Chile, stretches 130 – 330 feet wide. Although he’s far from our planet now, scientists carefully follow the orbit. Paul Chodas, Director of NASA’s nearby World Objects Studies, says that the possibility of the sky stone to skip the Earth is 99 %. Historically, the world encounters asteroids of this size every few thousand years and has significant possibility of damage. For this reason, 2024 YR4 attracted the attention of scientists and became a priority in the risk list of the European Space Agency. So, what is the meteorite that creates excitement from time to time with the danger of falling into the Earth historically, how is it understood? Here are all the curious about the celestial stone:
What is meteorite 🤔
The meteorite is in the simplest expression that falls from space to Earth. Meteorites are on the rock but are not like rocks on Earth. Most of them are much older and provide some of the only examples we have belonging to other worlds in our solar system (other planets, asteroids, comets). Some meteorites contain even tiny particles around the other stars that exist before our sun.Meteorites are in size from dust particles to small asteroids. When meteorites enter the Earth’s atmosphere (or another planet of another planet like Mars) at high speed and burns, fire balls or “sliding stars” are called meteor. This is called meteorite when a meteorite survives his journey in the atmosphere and hit the ground.
Since the meteorites are old parts of these celestial bodies, scientists trust in the celestial stones to learn about the history of our solar system. The study of meteorites helped us to understand the beginning of our solar system, how planets and asteroids occur, and how the effects of large meteorites change the history of the Earth and how the life on our planet has changed.
All celestial stones come from our solar system. The majority of meteors are parts of fragmented asteroids. Asteroids are the rocky bodies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Such parts return around the Sun for a while (usually millions of years) before colliding with the Earth. Meteorites can be very large. The largest meteorite weighing about 60 tons. There are also very small meteorites in the size of the beach pebbles and even sand grains that people find.
How to understand the celestial stone 🧐
Meteors are rock or metal pieces falling from space to Earth. They are very rare, but many people find unusual rock or metal pieces and wonder that they may have found a celestial stone. How to understand whether a rock is a meteorite, how to distinguish meteor stone?- Intensity: Meteors are usually very heavy compared to their size; Because they contain metallic iron and dense minerals.
- Magnetic: Most celestial stone usually adhere to the magnet, as they contain metallic iron. For stone meteorites, it may not stick to the magnet, but it will pull the magnet with a rope.
- Unusual Figure: Iron-niche meteorites are rarely rounded. They have an irregular shape with unusual pits such as “regmaglypts” on their surfaces.
- Fusion peel: There is a thin shell on the surfaces of the stone meteorites usually when passing through the atmosphere.
Additional Information: Quartz is a common, light -colored crystal in the world crust, but does not contain other objects in the solar system. Volcanic rocks or metallic slag in the world usually contain bubbles or sacs, but not meteorites. If you rub a meteorite on a ceramic surface, it does not leave a line. If it left a black or red line, it probably contains magnetite or hematite iron minerals. These are not found in meteorites.
Differences between meteorite and meteor
A cool night and you look at the serene stars shining in the dark sky. He noticed that the light lines appeared and disappeared in the sky. You thought it was a rocking star. This can be a meteor, meteorite may be, there is a possibility of meteorite.This is a meteor. Meteor is the light line you see in the sky if it burns due to the heat of a small comet or asteroid part into the atmosphere at the atmosphere and the collision of the part with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere. A small comet or asteroid part floats in space between planets before entering the world atmosphere. This is called meteoroid.
Most meteoroids entering the atmosphere are completely burned as meteor. However, in some cases meteoroid does not completely burn and the object actually reaches the surface of the world. Meteorite is called meteorite.
Where do the meteorites come from?
Most meteorites are from the asteroid belt, which is a pile of rock between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Their size varies from about 1000 kilometers to microscopic powder particles.
Larger asteroids that hit the Moon or Mars can also send us a shrapnel. There is no confirmed meteorite from Mercury or Venus, because in order to reach us, they need to fight against the Gravity force of the Sun.
How often does the meteorite hit the Earth?
Small rocks enter the world atmosphere almost every day, but they burn unnoticed. Large impacts are rare. Great asteroids are expected to hit Earth every 2000 years. The most harmful meteorite impact so far is the Tunguska incident, a megaton scale that destroyed a part of the Siberian forests in 1908.
Has anyone died as a result of meteorite hit?
There is no confirmed report that rocks from space cause a person’s death. However, in 1911, a 40 -kilogram rock from Mars hit a dog in Egypt and killed him. In 1992, a small meteorite hit a child in Uganda; Fortunately, the child was not seriously injured.
