The Rio Crater Field in Argentina reveals evidence of a low-angle meteoroid impact, possibly within the last 10,000 years. Analysis suggests a chondritic body, 150 to 300 meters in diameter, struck Earth at a shallow angle, creating glassy impact features. This event may have been witnessed by early South American inhabitants. | The Randall Carlson

When a meteor enters Earth’s atmosphere, it’s moving at incredible speeds—often tens of thousands of miles per hour. This rapid motion compresses the air in front of it, generating intense heat that can reach several thousand degrees. That heat causes the meteor to glow brilliantly, producing the bright streak we recognize as a “shooting star.” As it blazes through the sky, the meteor begins to lose its outer layers in a process called ablation, where the intense heat causes the material to vapo