I get asked this question often - and I always split it in two - I say "If
you mean ,how do I personally know it's a meteorite?'", then I reply, "
because I purchased it from a specialist dealer/university/museum" or what
ever...
I then rapidly follow it up with "if you mean how do _we_ as humans know it
a space rock...?" then I briefly explain just some of the tests (isotope
ratios, age of material & so on)
That generally satisfies most questioners of all ages it seems - not ideal
but when a neophyte is presented with a small piece of rock the size of a
findgernail, it is often difficult to even make them understand that the
rock they are holding is a fragment of a larger piece - I often get asked
"how do they find them when they're so small" for example when holding a few
milligrams of Martian.
dave
IMCA #0092
Sec.BIMS
www.bimsociety.org
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