Ask A Scientist© Astronomy Archive

Author:      sean evans
I would like to know about meteors.  Have you collected any of them?

Response #:  1 of 1
Author:      samuel p bowen
Gee, Sean, I have not collected any.  I wish that I had.  It is very
difficult to tell whether any rock that you find is part of a meteor.  I
suppose that if a rock looked different from the others it may be a candi-
date for a meteor.  While lots of meteors do hit the atmosphere I have not
heard about many that were large enough to hit the ground.  I wonder how you
would be able to tell them from other rocks?  Why do you not look around and
see if some of the rocks around you town could be meteors?  I will have to
ask geologists if they can tell the difference.