what is the age of meteorites?

Answer 1

The same age as the rest of the solar system -- about 4.5 billion years.

Answer 2

Remember what meteorites are: they are the left-over building blocks that somehow escaped the gravitational pull of the major planets and moons that were forming at the same time.

The Earth is thought to have been formed about 4.5 billion years ago and it probably took a couple of hundred million years in its formation, therefore meteorites should be of the same age or slightly older.

There are some meteorites discovered in Antarctica which are thought to have originated from Mars following that planet's collision with another body, so these will be actually younger than the rest.

Answer 3

A meteorite is an extraterrestrial body that survives its impact with the Earth's surface without being destroyed. While in space it is called a meteoroid. When it enters the atmosphere, air resistance causes the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting star. The term bolide refers to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.

More generally, a meteorite on the surface of any celestial body is an object that has come from elsewhere in space. Meteorites have been found on the Moon and Mars.

Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transitted the atmosphere or impacted the Earth are called falls. All other meteorites are known as finds. As of mid-2006, there are approximately 1050 witnessed falls having specimens in the world's collections. In contrast, there are over 31,000 well-documented meteorite finds.

Meteorites are always named for the place where they were found, usually a nearby town or geographic feature. In cases where many meteorites were found in one place, the name may be followed by a number or letter (e.g., Allan Hills 84001 or Dimmitt ).

Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals; iron meteorites are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel; and, stony-iron meteorites contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern classification schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy. See Meteorites classification.

Answer 4

Now you may have a new or old meteorite. makes a billion difference?
average formation age as measurable by our science - 4.5 to 4.7 billion years old. Due to the imperfect way these measurements have been done, I may say that a sane estimate might be as high as 7 billion years ago. Look into it , the universe is expanding (why?) and time and space may not be behaving exactly as we anticipate (Einstein only got part of the equation right...) Dark matter. Look it up, excel in physics. Maybe you'll be the first one to get us off this mudball.

Answer 5

The most common meteorites are chondrites, which are stony meteorites. Radiometric dating of chondrites has placed them at the age of 4.55 billion years, which is the approximate age of the solar system. They are considered pristine samples of early solar system matter, although in many cases their properties have been modified by thermal metamorphism or icy alteration. Some meteoriticists have suggested that the different properties found in various chondrites suggest the location in which they were formed. Enstatite chondrites contain the most refractory elements and are believed to have formed in the inner solar system. Ordinary chondrites, being the most common type containing both volatile and oxidized elements, are thought to have formed in the inner asteroid belt. Carbonaceous chondrites, which have the highest proportions of volatile elements and are the most oxidized, are thought to have originated in even greater solar distances. Each of these classes can be further subdivided into smaller groups with distinct properties.

Answer 6

The oldest meteorites have been dated to about 4.5 billion years.

Answer 7

They are dated at the same age as that of the Solar System, around 4.5 billion years. The debris left over from formation or destruction of the other bodies.

Answer 8

The solar system is about 6billion years old but at that point it was only gas. It wasn't until 4.5 billions years ago that everything coalesed into bigger chunk by colliding with each other under the influence of gravity. The biggest bits formed the plants but there is still everything in size down to dust still floating about.

Answer 9

A agree with everyone else - 4.5 billion years which is the same age as the rest of the solar system.

Answer 10

I dunno, look it up lazy bum.