Imilac meteorite, illuminated in blue light. This is a slice through the meteorite. This stony-iron meteorite was found in the Atacama Desert, Chile, in 1822. The total weight of collected fragments is about 400 grams. The meteorite probably came from an asteroid, and was probably formed billions of years ago when liquid metal (now solid, blue) mixed with silicate rocks (yellow/brown) that were at the boundary between the asteroid's molten core and solid crust. Stony-irons make up a few percent of discovered meteorites. Meteorites are studied to reveal the composition of rocks and planets in the early solar system.