Key facts
- Category
- Meteoritic material
- Object class
- Carbonaceous chondrite
- Scale fact
- 6 cmspecimen extent
- Composition
- Hydrated silicates, carbon-rich compounds, metal
Carbonaceous Chondrite
6 cmspecimen extent
Details
A carbonaceous chondrite is among the most chemically primitive kinds of meteorite. NASA studies of carbon-rich meteorites have identified amino acids, sugars, and other organics in this broader family.
Carbonaceous chondrites contain mixtures assembled early in Solar System history, but “primitive” does not mean untouched. Many were altered by water inside their parent asteroids. Their hydrated minerals and varied organic compounds let laboratories examine both the starting material and some of the chemical processing that occurred before those asteroids broke apart. Organic molecules in these rocks are evidence of abiotic chemistry, not evidence of life.
Links
- Wikipedia
- Carbonaceous Chondrite on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Carbonaceous Chondrite on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Carbonaceous Chondrite falls between Chondrule and Ordinary Chondrite. The band uses nearby Meteoritic material records.
Shared physical scale
2.06m
Sources
References for Carbonaceous Chondrite
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.