ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Meteoric iron

Meteoric iron is a special kind of metal that comes from space! It's like a rock, but it's made of just one material, which is iron.

When a big piece of rock, called an asteroid, flies through space, sometimes it crashes into another planet or moon. This can make a hole or a crater, and sometimes pieces of the asteroid break off and fall to the ground. These pieces are called meteorites.

Some meteorites have a lot of iron in them, and we call these "meteoric iron". Scientists can tell if a rock is made of meteoric iron by studying its texture and patterns. It looks different from other kinds of iron, which usually come from the Earth.

People have been using meteoric iron for thousands of years. They found it on the ground and noticed it was a good metal for making tools and weapons. Even today, scientists study meteoric iron to help us learn more about the universe and where we come from!