What are meteorites? I visit and study the craters they've left across our planet

• For the most part, the asteroids quietly orbit the Sun – but sometimes they collide with each other or the planets and their moons.
• Some planets are more pockmarked with craters than others: the Moon is covered with thousands but the Earth has only 200 confirmed meteorite craters.
• Second, 70% of Earth is covered with water – we can only see craters on land.
• Thus, studying impact craters can broaden our understanding of the Earth’s evolution and life, as well its possible future.

Studying impactites

• It is the world’s oldest and largest known impact structure, dating back some 2 billion years and spanning between 180km and 300km in diameter.
• That spot of collision is what’s known as an impact crater; the ground around and below it is full of rocks called impactites.
• These cannot be found anywhere else: impactites are not formed by any natural processes, only by meteorite impacts.
• Read more:
  Glass beads in lunar soil reveal ancient asteroid bombardments on the Moon and Earth

Cutting-edge technology

• A technology called transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is driving the latest research in this field.
• It has been used for a few decades but, in recent years, there have been big improvements in its quality and precision.
• This technology is opening the door to an entirely new world of impactite study.