Microscope challenge of the month- January 2025
Finding your Subject: What is it?
This was an interesting challenge this month. How do you observe space...from a microscope? Turns out there is an entire sub-field of astronomy called Meteoritics, the study of meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites. What is the difference? According to science.nasa.gov, a meteor is a rock still in space, a meteoroid is a rock from space falling to Earth, and a meteorite is what is left of a space rock that fell to Earth. Because of Earth's atmosphere, much of the meteoroids burn up while falling to Earth and what is left is often tiny pieces of meteorites. To understand more about what makes up objects in space, scientists study these meteorites under the microscope.
Learn about meteors with this kid-friendly article:
Or try this article for something longer that answers every question you can think of about meteorites!