Meteor Dust on Earth

A thousand tons of meteor dust falls to Earth every day. During a meteor’s flight through the atmosphere, most burn up but some do survive to reach the Earth’s surface.  In terminology, any meteor that makes its way to the ground is called a “meteorite”.  Roughly a thousand meteorites land per year around the world.  Most of which land in the world’s oceans.

 The most famous crater from a meteorite in the United States is the Barringer Meteorite.  This 600 feet deep crater is located in Winslow, Arizona.  Fragments of this iron meteorite are still being found around the site today.  More than 30 tons of the Barringer Meteorite have been recovered.

The largest known meteorite to ever fall to earch is the Hoba Meteorite in Nambia, Africa which weighed 60,000 kg.  The largest meteorite found in the United States is the Williamette Meteorite in Oregon.  Although it was found in 1902 in Oregon, it can now be found on display in the American Museum of Natural History.

Add comment October 31st, 2007

Basic Facts about Planet Earth

This is the first post on this brand new website dedicated to science and our planet Earth.  We know more today than ever before about our planet and what’s going on around us. Science is always continuing to connect the dots through research, study, and experimentation. As technology advances, we continue to learn and find more out about our planet.

Learn a little about the planet we call Earth:

Age: 4.6 billion years old.
Location: 3rd planet from the sun.
Size: 5th largest planet in our solar system. 
Surface Area: 197 million square miles.
Diameter: 12,756 km (7,926 miles)
Average Temperature: 59 degrees F (15C)
Length of Year: 365.25 days
Inclination of Axis: 23.45 degrees
Chemical Composition: 34.6%  Iron, 29.5%  Oxygen, 15.2%  Silicon, 12.7%  Magnesium, 2.4%  Nickel, 1.9%  Sulfur, 0.05% Titanium

Want more? Take a look at Amazing Earth Facts page.

3 comments October 29th, 2007