Abee

The enstatite chondrite Abee is an impact melt breccia. An impact on the surface of its parent asteroid melted part of the rock, while leaving the angular fragments unaltered.

Allende

The white inclusions in Allende formed in the solar nebula and are the oldest materials from our Solar System. Their study revolutionized our understanding of the birth of the Sun and its family of planets.

Ensisheim

Ensisheim, which fell near the border between France and Germany, is the oldest meteorite fall from which material has been preserved.

Farmington

Light-colored rocks can become shock blackened when an impact produces myriad tiny fractures that fill with dark grains of metal or sulfide.

Farmville

The most common meteorites, ordinary chondrites come from just three parent asteroids.

Homestead

This specimen has black fusion crust, shallow regmaglypts, and tiny metal flakes.

Lost City

Cameras operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory recorded Lost City's fall in 1970. The photos enabled scientists to reconstruct the meteorite's orbit and determine that it originated in the asteroid belt.

Mezö-Madaras

Meteorites like Mezö-Madaras contain leftover samples of the actual dust and grains that formed the rocky planets 4.6 billion years ago. Called chondrites, meteorites of this type preserve direct evidence of the processes that shaped our Solar System.

Murchison

Analyses reveal that Murchison contains amino acids and other organic molecules, compounds found in similar meteorites that fell on early Earth.

Nuevo Mercurio

This specimen has black fusion crust, shallow regmaglypts, and tiny metal flakes.

Olivenza

The regular, shallow depressions on some meteorites are called regmaglypts. The elongated ones on Olivenza probably parallel the direction of air flow during the meteorite's flight.

Orgueil

Not all the carbonaceous chondrites like Orgueil are rich in carbon. Many contain abundant water. Some even possess complex organic molecules like amino acids, albeit of nonbiologic origin.

Paragould

Paragould is heavily fragmented and preserves evidence of a long history of battering on its parent asteroid.

Patuxent Range 91501

When magnified 10 times, Patuxent Range 91501 reveals gas bubbles trapped when an impact melted the rock.

Peekskill

The Peekskill meteorite's dramatic fall to Earth in 1992 was videotaped by at least 14 people in different cities.

Plantersville

The dark, iron-rich fusion crusts on Plantersville is unweathered.

Rose City

The dark streaks cutting across Rose City are shock veins that formed when liquefied rock was squeezed between unmelted fragments.

Success

The thin, dark streaks cutting across Success are melted rock called shock veins.

Weston

In 1807, the widely observed fall of the Weston stone in Connecticut sparks a U.S. debate about where such rocks originate.