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The causes of meteors and meteorites

by Richard Serra

Created on: March 25, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

These bodies that make up the smallest of what comprises of our universe are as the result of collisions throughout the universe whereas the impact was so great that the debris was thrown with such speed, that the gravitational pull of the larger bodies from which they once were a part of, just wasn't enough to pull them back onto themselves.
These fragments travel through space for millions of years without ever colliding with something, but eventually in time they do. They can vary from a a tiny stone or even sand, to the size of Texas or more.

The impact of these bodies are evident on the Moon, Mars, other planets, as well as our own. The difference is that on our planet, the weather and atmosphere slowly eroded all evidence of many impacts, or filled and covered over many of the craters that would normally remain if we didn't have an atmosphere.
Some of these craters still remain, even under the ocean.

Our own planet may have been the result of a collection of bodies slamming together with such force, and with so many during the formation of what we now know of our planetary system today.
The impacts generated tremendous heat, and with the amounts of impacts almost constantly, the earth formed as a molten ball of debris as a result of these constant collisions.

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