Meteoritics[note 1] is the science that deals with meteors, meteorites, and meteoroids.[note 2][2][3] It is closely connected to cosmochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry. A specialist who studies meteoritics is known as a meteoriticist.[4]
Scientific research in meteoritics includes the collection, identification, and classification of meteorites and the analysis of samples taken from them in a laboratory. Typical analyses include investigation of the minerals that make up the meteorite, their relative locations, orientations, and chemical compositions; analysis of isotope ratios; and radiometric dating. These techniques are used to determine the age, formation process, and subsequent history of the material forming the meteorite. This provides information on the history of the Solar System, how it formed and evolved, and the process of planet formation.
- ^ a b Leonard, Frederick C. (1953). "Introducing meteoritics: The Journal of the Meteoritical Society and the Institute of Meteoritics of the University of New Mexico". Meteoritics. 1 (1): 1–4. Bibcode:1953Metic...1....1L. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.1953.tb01299.x.
- ^ meteoritics on Lexico.com
- ^ "meteoritics, n.". OED Online. Oxford University Press. 19 December 2012.
- ^ "meteoriticist, n.". OED Online. Oxford University Press. 19 December 2012.
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