Meteorites and Scotland    

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There haven't been many records of meteorites in Scotland. Largely this is due to the large area of land that is unpopulated and so many falls go unnoticed. The number of falls of a certain size is known. In this case the value is 83 for sizes greater than a few centimetres and therefore likely to be found. How many of these are occur in a year in Scotland? Click the button to find out.

falls >10g per 10⁶ km² per year.
x 10⁶ km² land area. (78,000km² is the area of Scotland.)

But a meteorite will not last forever, particularly when exposed to Scottish weather. Try different values for the lifetime of a meteorite on the surface to find out how many are sitting on the ground at this moment.

years of terrestrial lifetime.

With that many meteorites, how difficult would it be for you to find one? Click the buttons to find out how much area you'd have to search to find a meteorite.

Realistically then it is unfeasable to search for meteorites in Scotland. But not completely impossible as one find as been recognised as a genuine meteorite: Glenrothes

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If meteorites are falling all the time then what is the danger of one landing on you? Here we consider only those tennis ball sized or larger. 15 of these occur per year in 1,000,000km². Click the button to find out how many meteorites are a danger.

dangerous falls per 10⁶ km² per year.
x 10⁶ km² land area. (149x10⁶ km is the land area of the Earth.)

If that's the case then how much risk is there? Click the buttons for the likelihood of being hit.

m² of potential impact area.
million people.

However realistically meteorites are only a danger when you are outside. Obviously this varies depending on a person's habits. Try changing the values to see how much of a risk meteorites are to you.

hours outside.

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