Meteorites

Coupe d’une météorite ferreuse tombée en 1836 dans la circonscription de Gibeon, en Namibie (longueur : 5,8 cm). Les figures géométriques qu’elle présente – dites « figures de Widmanstätten » (du nom du savant qui les a décrites) – n’apparaissent que sur les tranches de météorites métalliques après polissage et traitement à l’acide nitrique.

Most meteorites are small fragments of asteroids or comets. They come mainly from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and give us valuable information about the formation of our solar system.

It is estimated that 100 tons of meteorites fall to Earth every year! Almost 90% of these are stony meteorites, such as chondrites and achondrites, which are less than a third metal. Metallic or iron meteorites, which are mainly composed of iron and nickel, account for only 5% of falls. The rarest meteorites are stony-iron meteorites, also known as pallasites.

You can discover the difference between asteroids, shooting stars and superbolides in the same room where you can also see the six meteorites that fell and were found in Belgium.