Taza, NWA 859 Flight-marked Iron Meteorite (986g)

Did you know? Meteorites, those bright streaks of light appearing in our sky, are simply chunks of space rock that fall through the Earth’s atmosphere. Referred to as shooting or falling stars, it is common to see a few meteorites per hour on clear nights and as many as 100 per hour during a meteor storm. The original source of these objects is mainly asteroids and comets. Most meteorites are relatively small and are vaporized by the atmosphere, but some larger pieces make it through and land in the oceans or on ground. The 60 ton Hoba Meteorite is the Earth’s largest known meteorite. The giant touched down in Africa over 80,000 years ago but wasn’t discovered until 1920. *According to a 1985 study, a meteorite will hit a human approximately once every 180 years. The last person was struck in 1952 which means that an unsuspecting earthling will most likely be struck in the year 2132!