Mark D. Kaufman
at 09:54 AM Jan 25 2017
Space // 

The history of our solar system is a history of collisions. Massive, world-shattering collisions. Evidence of these collisions rains down on us every day in the form of meteorites—rocks hurled into space when massive asteroids crash into each other. For the first time, researchers have examined some of the rocky relics of a particularly colossal crash that occurred 466 million years ago. The results, published in Nature Astronomy, show that some of the rarest meteorites of the modern world were once commonplace, making up more than a third of the total space debris.

Rebecca Boyle
at 01:30 AM May 7 2013
Science // 

Earth is bombarded all the time by space rocks, but people rarely notice them - only 1,042 have ever been seen falling. People didn't start recording these impacts until a couple hundred years ago, and then suddenly, they noticed all the time.

Shaunacy Ferro
at 08:30 AM Feb 16 2013

As updates roll in from Russia and the meteorite-related injury toll rises, you may be scrambling to remember what a meteorite really is. If you're a little rusty on your astronomy, here's some basic info about space rocks and why this one was unusual.

Rebecca Boyle
at 03:30 AM Oct 7 2011
Science // 

Earth's oceans likely started out as space snowballs born far beyond the orbit of Pluto, a new study says. Water-rich comets collided with the young planet after hurtling through the nascent solar system, and probably delivered a significant amount of the water on this planet.

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