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The Conversation
Roger Lawrence Gibson, Professor of Structural Geology and Metamorphic Petrology, University of the Witwatersrand

Meteorite discovery: unusual finds by South African farmer add to space rock heritage

A digital composite of a meteor shower speeding towards Earth. Adastra

Meteorites – fragments of rock that have fallen to Earth from space in spectacularly fiery meteors – have been the subject of public fascination, awe, myths and even religious worship for thousands of years.

In recent decades they’ve become a cosmic Rosetta Stone for scientists investigating the birth throes of our solar system and the organic life it hosts. Meteorites are therefore rightly classified by many countries as an integral part of communal natural heritage and are sought after by museums and private collectors.

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