What do the largest meteorites have in common?
This dataset from NASA depicts information about discovered and observed meteorites from 1575 onwards. I wanted to find out whether the largest meteorites in the dataset share any common characteristics. I used the original NASA Meteorite Landings dataset and sorted the records by mass, and specifically observed the 20 largest meteorites. I then compared their classification, fall status, year, and location.
| Name | Mass (kg) | Classification | Status | Year | Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoba | 60,000 | Iron, IVB | Found | 1920 | -19.58333 | 17.91667 |
| Cape York | 58,200 | Iron, IIIAB | Found | 1818 | 76.13333 | -64.93333 |
| Campo del Cielo | 50,000 | Iron, IAB-MG | Found | 1575 | -27.46667 | -60.58333 |
| Canyon Diablo | 30,000 | Iron, IAB-MG | Found | 1891 | 35.05 | -111.03333 |
| Armanty | 28,000 | Iron, IIIE | Found | 1898 | 47.0 | 88.0 |
| Gibeon | 26,000 | Iron, IVA | Found | 1836 | -25.5 | 18.0 |
| Chupaderos | 24,300 | Iron, IIIAB | Found | 1852 | 27.0 | -105.1 |
| Mundrabilla | 24,000 | Iron, IAB-ung | Found | 1911 | -30.78333 | 127.55 |
| Sikhote-Alin | 23,000 | Iron, IIAB | Fell | 1947 | 46.16 | 134.65333 |
| Bacubirito | 22,000 | Iron, ungrouped | Found | 1863 | 26.2 | -107.83333 |
| Mbosi | 16,000 | Iron, ungrouped | Found | 1930 | -9.11667 | 33.06667 |
| Willamette | 15,500 | Iron, IIIAB | Found | 1902 | 45.36667 | -122.58333 |
| Morito | 10,100 | Iron, IIIAB | Found | 1600 | 27.05 | -105.43333 |
| Nantan | 9,500 | Iron, IAB-MG | Found | 1958 | 25.1 | 107.7 |
| Cranbourne | 8,600 | Iron, IAB-MG | Found | 1854 | -38.1 | 145.3 |
| Santa Catharina | 7,000 | Iron, IAB-ung | Found | 1875 | -26.21667 | -48.6 |
| Bendegó | 5,360 | Iron, IC | Found | 1784 | -10.11667 | -39.2 |
| Brenham | 4,300 | Pallasite, PMG-an | Found | 1882 | 37.5825 | -99.16361 |
| Jilin | 4,000 | H5 | Fell | 1976 | 44.05 | 126.16667 |
| Vaca Muerta | 3,828 | Mesosiderite-A1 | Found | 1861 | -25.75 | -70.5 |
The strongest pattern is that within their classification, 17 of the 20 largest meteorites are classified as iron meteorites. This means that 85% of the largest records in this group are iron.
| Classification | Number |
|---|---|
| Iron | 17 |
| Pallasite | 1 |
| Mesosiderite | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
Another pattern is in regards to how the meteorites were recorded. 18 of the 20 were marked as "Found," while only 2 were recorded as having actually been observed falling. This leads to the question of what size, mass, and classification a meteorite must be to be visible to the human eye or detected by machines prior to landing. It also leads to questions about what meteorites were missed, why, and what that data could tell us.
| Status | Number |
|---|---|
| Found | 18 |
| Fell | 2 |
The meteorites range from 3828 kg to 60,000 kg, and their recorded years range from 1575 to 1976. None of the 20 largest records have a year from the 2000s.
The three main outliers are Brenham, Jilin, and Vaca Muerta. Unlike most of the other meteorites in the top 20, they are not classified as iron meteorites.