Meteorite Hunting

The search for meteorites, practiced by amateurs hunting on weekends and by professionals who recover meteorites commercially, both of whom frequently use metal detectors or magnets to find them. Iron and stony-iron meteorites can often be located this way, but stony meteorites, which make up most meteorite falls, sometimes call for more sensitive equipment such as large metal detectors, ground-penetrating radar, lidar or even landmine detectors. Because meteorites fall in roughly equal numbers everywhere on Earth but do not survive long once buried, arctic and desert regions, where they are not quickly covered by vegetation or rainfall, have proven especially good hunting ground, and a recovered specimen's value to scientists and collectors alike depends on its rarity, composition and the conditions in which it was found.