Meteorites are solid extraterrestrial materials that survive passage through a planetary atmosphere and reach the surface, providing direct samples of Solar System bodies for scientific investigation. As a research topic, they are categorized into stony, iron, and stony-iron types, with further subdivision into chondrites and achondrites based on texture and degree of differentiation. Meteorites preserve information on early Solar System processes, including nebular condensation, accretion, thermal metamorphism, and core–mantle differentiation. Their isotopic, mineralogical, and chemical compositions constrain models of planetesimal formation, planetary evolution, chronology via radiometric dating, and the distribution of volatiles and organic compounds in the protoplanetary disk.
Mercury remains one of our solar system's most elusive and difficult planets to study. It's easier to send probes to the icy moons of Saturn or Jupiter, or even to Pluto, than to land on our innermost planet, Mercury.
Planetary Sciences
Oct 19, 2026
0
27
On April 1, 2026, the crew of the Artemis II mission launched into space atop NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). Roughly 3 1/2 hours after launch, the rocket's upper stage separated from the Orion spacecraft (Integrity), and ...
Space Exploration
Oct 12, 2026
0
69
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have rewritten a small part of Oklahoma's geologic history with global implications for ancient life. Below the surface of the small town of Ames, Oklahoma, a meteor impact ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 28, 2026
0
94
The asteroid Bennu orbits the sun once every 1.2 years and approaches Earth every six years, passing within around 300,000 kilometers. NASA took advantage of this to collect material from the celestial body. In a spectacular ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 23, 2026
0
67
What happens to a space rock as it falls through Earth's atmosphere and becomes a meteorite? By studying 75 meteorite falls captured on video and in photographs, researchers identified seven distinct phases in the journey ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 24, 2026
0
34
Boston College scientists have determined that a newly discovered meteorite from Mars is 1.27 billion years old and derived from a previously unsampled, pristine source on the Red Planet. The study is published in the journal ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 9, 2026
0
121
As NASA's Curiosity rover recently began climbing a Martian valley nicknamed "Valle Grande," it sent back images that were a familiar sight to mission scientists: honeycomb-like textures called polygonal fractures, each about ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 29, 2026
0
379
A rare CO chondrite meteorite was the probable impacter that struck Earth 66 million years ago, wiping out 75% of Earth's species, including nonavian dinosaurs. These findings are published in Science Advances. Researchers ...
Biotechnology
Jul 17, 2026
0
164
On July 16, 2024, a daytime meteor shook New York City with a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty. Now, an international team of researchers reports in the journal Science Advances that a short time ...
Space Exploration
Jul 15, 2026
0
153
New research by lunar scientists from Brown University provides critical new insights into the thickness of the moon's regolith, the layer of loose dust and rock that drapes the entire lunar surface.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 14, 2026
0
18
