Our last two posts dealt with Earth’s Moon and Earth’s neighboring planet—Mars. We have not returned to the Moon in over fifty years since the NASA Apollo Program concluded in 1972. Currently, US residents have refocused on space travel with our Artemis program.
Scientists and laypeople are currently experiencing renewed interest in lunar and interplanetary travel. Earth’s Moon and Planet Mars have always provided fascination for Earth’s visionaries. The three Solar System objects referenced above possess many clues concerning the history of our universe. In particular, each of these bodies possesses craters produced when objects from outer space struck their surface.
Earth’s Moon has been bombarded with millions of meteoroids. Many of the moon’s craters resulted from an astronomical event called the late heavy bombardment—a storm of meteoroids and comets striking the inner planets in early geologic eras about four billion years ago. Lunar craters have been preserved in the airless environment of the Moon. Planets possessing atmospheres such as Earth and Mars possess far fewer craters because they have experienced degradation from erosion.
One of the most famous meteor craters in the world is located in Arizona. It is named Meteor Crater or Barringer Crater. During a trip to the western states with a friend in 1962 we visited the site of Meteor Crater. I have vivid memories of approaching the site by automobile. I observed an uplifted ridge, typical of most impact craters. The bowl shaped crater is 3900 feet in diameter and 560 feet deep. Research at the meteor crater site has been ongoing for decades. Scientists have determined most of the matter in the meteorite was vaporized due to the high temperatures produced by the intense heat generated during the meteor’s fiery entry into Earth’s atmosphere at 29000 mph. Small fragments of the meteorite have been found in the surrounding region but the meteorite, estimated to have been about 50 meters in diameter, is not buried within the crater.
Here are two past blogs recapturing our personal experience with a recent meteor from outer space:
https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2010/04/meteor-madness.html
https://jasscience.blogspot.com/2010/04/asteroid-ardor.html
By coincidence, there are current news reports of a large meteor flashing across the sky in Ohio and surrounding states as we write on 3/17/26. We take this opportunity to explain the differences among the terms meteor, meteorite, and meteoroid. The universe is filled with trillions of meteoroids—objects in outer space before they encounter a planet or satellite. Meteors are what we see flashing across the sky only to burn up in our atmosphere before reaching earth. Meteorites are pieces of space rock reaching the earth’s surface. They are valuable and in demand.
The largest meteorite ever found on Planet Earth is the Hoba meteorite in Namibia (Africa). Scientists believe the iron/nickel meteorite fell to Earth roughly 80,000 years ago before the US Meteor Crater was formed about 50,000 years ago. It was not vaporized owing to its slower entry speed. The Hoba meteorite weighs about 66 tons.
Astrophysicists have scientifically determined the enormous age of our universe. Their findings concerning the age of objects in our universe or how long ago events occurred seem scientifically unassailable. Our timeless Creator is not subject to the timelines of creation events established by humans. The first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, is a rich repository of theological information: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)
