{"id":4502,"date":"2025-03-14T12:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T11:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/?post_type=faq&#038;p=4502"},"modified":"2025-11-03T09:18:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T08:18:20","slug":"what-is-a-meteorite-and-how-can-you-recognize-one","status":"publish","type":"faq","link":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/faq\/what-is-a-meteorite-and-how-can-you-recognize-one\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a meteorite and how can you recognize one?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"western\">A meteorite is a piece of rock from space that enters the atmosphere. It does not burn up (like a <a href=\"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/faq\/what-is-een-shooting-star-meteor\/\">meteor<\/a>) and reaches the surface of the Earth. It is quite rare to find a meteorite, especially in an urban environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">There are different kinds of meteorites, but there are some general characteristics that can help to decide if the rock is a meteorite.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">Meteorites are magnetic: they won\u2019t stick on a fridge themselves, but a magnet will stick to the meteorite.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">The rock seems burned on the outside. A meteorite has a rounded shape and brown rusty, to black color because of the heat during atmospheric entry.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">You will not see holes or pores at the surface of a meteorite. Sometimes you can see shiny or rusty patches of iron.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">A meteorite will feel heavier compared to a rock from earth of the same size.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"western\">The Royal Observatory of Belgium <b>does not<\/b> identify or collect meteorites. If you think you found a meteorite, you can use the document below to verify. Still convinced it is a meteorite? Contact <span style=\"color: #467886;\"><u><a href=\"mailto:tleduc@naturalsciences.be\">tleduc@naturalsciences.be<\/a><\/u><\/span> from the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences. Add some pictures (with scale) and a description (location, exterior, weight, volume, magnetism, \u2026) from the rock. This will make identification easier.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Meteowrong-EN.pdf\">Meteorite or meteowrong?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","faq_cat":[52],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq\/4502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faq"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faq_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinfo.oma.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq_cat?post=4502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}