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| Comet me, bro! What are your chances of finding a crashed meteorite on Earth? | Comet me, bro! What are your chances of finding a crashed meteorite on Earth? |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| It seems that every other week there’s news of a close flyby of an asteroid or meteor shower, but what is the average person’s chances of getting in on the action and actually finding one? RT investigates. | It seems that every other week there’s news of a close flyby of an asteroid or meteor shower, but what is the average person’s chances of getting in on the action and actually finding one? RT investigates. |
| An average of one small asteroid per year hits the Earth, but during the same time there are approximately 500 meteorite impacts. A meteorite is a meteoroid, or solid piece of debris from outer space, that somehow manages to survive entry into our atmosphere. | An average of one small asteroid per year hits the Earth, but during the same time there are approximately 500 meteorite impacts. A meteorite is a meteoroid, or solid piece of debris from outer space, that somehow manages to survive entry into our atmosphere. |
| Your chances | Your chances |
| An area the size of the average American home (2,500 sq ft) has a 1 in 2,196,267,379,587 chance of being struck by a single asteroid, but with meteorites the odds improve substantially, given that there are roughly 500 each year, to somewhere in the region of 1 in 4,392,536,564, according to US real estate company Movoto. | |
| The firm came to this conclusion by comparing the Earth’s land surface area of roughly 150,000,000 sq km, and comparing that to an average-sized home. | The firm came to this conclusion by comparing the Earth’s land surface area of roughly 150,000,000 sq km, and comparing that to an average-sized home. |
| You can check your chances using their handy calculator here. | You can check your chances using their handy calculator here. |
| As you can see, the odds are infinitesimally small. | As you can see, the odds are infinitesimally small. |
| For reference, in the US your odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are 1 in 700,000; during an 80-year lifespan the odds narrow to 1 in 3,000. | For reference, in the US your odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are 1 in 700,000; during an 80-year lifespan the odds narrow to 1 in 3,000. |
| The surface of the Earth is around 510 million kilometers squared. That includes the oceans, but given how unlikely it is to find meteorites on land, space rock hunters will likely not be delving underwater in the hopes of finding space treasure. | The surface of the Earth is around 510 million kilometers squared. That includes the oceans, but given how unlikely it is to find meteorites on land, space rock hunters will likely not be delving underwater in the hopes of finding space treasure. |
| What to look for | What to look for |
| Back on dry land, as the US Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences explains in painstaking detail, even if you do fancy your chances of finding a meteorite, it is extremely difficult to identify one among the ordinary rocks. The process would be similar to trying to find a rare needle in an almost unfathomably large pile of similar needles. | Back on dry land, as the US Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences explains in painstaking detail, even if you do fancy your chances of finding a meteorite, it is extremely difficult to identify one among the ordinary rocks. The process would be similar to trying to find a rare needle in an almost unfathomably large pile of similar needles. |
| The vast, vast majority of rocks you will come across will not be meteorites; not every rock that falls from the sky is a meteorite (even if you were lucky/fast enough and had the resources to track one); and many meteorites don’t even look like meteorites. The list of obstacles goes on (and on and on). | The vast, vast majority of rocks you will come across will not be meteorites; not every rock that falls from the sky is a meteorite (even if you were lucky/fast enough and had the resources to track one); and many meteorites don’t even look like meteorites. The list of obstacles goes on (and on and on). |
| Where to look | Where to look |
| If you’re really determined to get your hands on some space rock places like the Nullarbor Plain in Australia (with an area of approximately 200,000 square kilometers) are known for their extensive meteorite deposits. This is often due to extremely arid climates, where weather conditions leave space rocks on the surface, and in the Nullarbor Plain’s case, neatly presented on top of the area’s vast limestone bedrock. | If you’re really determined to get your hands on some space rock places like the Nullarbor Plain in Australia (with an area of approximately 200,000 square kilometers) are known for their extensive meteorite deposits. This is often due to extremely arid climates, where weather conditions leave space rocks on the surface, and in the Nullarbor Plain’s case, neatly presented on top of the area’s vast limestone bedrock. |
| However, the plain boasts average daytime temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) and nightly temperatures below freezing, so good luck to any budding meteorite hunters hoping to locate the long-rumored ‘car-sized meteorite’ in the expansive plain. | However, the plain boasts average daytime temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) and nightly temperatures below freezing, so good luck to any budding meteorite hunters hoping to locate the long-rumored ‘car-sized meteorite’ in the expansive plain. |
| Like this story? Share it with a friend! | Like this story? Share it with a friend! |