If you look up at the sky at night for long enough, you're nearly guaranteed to see a shooting star: a bright, fine light zipping across the sky.
Shooting stars, or meteors, are often the last we'll see of the rock that caused their bright flash in the sky as it burns up in our atmosphere.
Most of the time, the object that caused the shooting star is no larger than a grain of sand, and not much will make it to earth.
But sometimes, they are bigger, and break up into pieces and land on Earth.
The Desert Fireball team from Curtin University have set up cameras across Australia to monitor for big meteors, fireballs, that might leave behind meteorites, to try and track them down quickly.
They know that lots of meteorites haven't been found, and are out there, waiting for discovery.
Gretchen Benedix, an astrogeologist with the Desert Fireball team, says finding a piece of space rock is thrilling every time.
"You do a little happy dance. But it is absolutely 100 per cent over the moon exciting every single time because it's a rock from space," Professor Benedix says.
"It came from space, and it's just so exciting to think, 'oh, where did it come from, what's it going to tell me now?'"
So, what are the chances that you could pick up a piece of space rock?
While meteorites are very rare, they are out there, and it's not impossible you could find one, especially if you know what you're looking for.
Meteors, meteorites, meteoroids?
The names can be a bit confusing: What's an asteroid? A meteorite? A meteoroid?
The best way to be sure you're using the right name is to think of the size and location.
Essentially, asteroids and meteoroids are very old space rocks, orbiting in our solar system, mainly in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
All of the planets, including Earth are the product of those rocks colliding and forming together 4.6 billion years ago.
Some pieces were too small, and too far apart from each other to form planets and remained in space, in orbit of the asteroid belt.
Asteroids are the bigger rocks, ranging from a couple of metres in diameter to nearly a kilometre in size and meteoroids are much smaller — usually less than a metre, and can be much, much smaller.
Occasionally, asteroids and meteoroids are disturbed, by colliding with other rocks, and are sent out of the asteroid belt and, sometimes, towards Earth.
A meteoroid or an asteroid is called a meteor when its travelling through our atmosphere, flashing bright. Once it lands, the pieces that makes it to the ground are called meteorites.
Big asteroids have hit Earth, like the 12km-wide asteroid that probably killed the dinosaurs, but that is not likely to happen again anytime soon.
The shooting stars that you can see at night are likely meteors, but they are probably too small to leave behind a meteorite.
The bigger meteors, which appear as much brighter, bigger shooting stars, or fireballs, are more likely to survive some of the entry, breaking up into pieces that scatter and land on the ground as meteorites.
"There are about 60,000 meteorites on the Earth's surface that we have now catalogued. They are still extremely rare material of the solar system," Professor Benedix says.
Where is the best place to look for a meteorite?
No one place is more likely than any other to have a meteor will break up and leave meteorites there, but it is much easier to find a meteorite in some places than others.
Some land in the ocean, or in other places that are difficult to access or search, like thick rainforests.
There is one place where scientists who study space rocks love to hunt: Antarctica.
That's because if they find a black rock in Antarctica, they can pretty much guarantee that it is a meteorite. And a black rock among a lot of white ice is very easy to spot.
But while trips to look for space rocks in Antarctica are a little hard to organise, there are some places that are better for meteorite hunting.
It'll be easier to find a meteorite on the ground if the surface is smooth, flat and not already covered in black rocks.
It's definitely worth investigating your own backyard or local park — even better if that area is bare or empty. While meteorites are rare, they are out there!
What to look for: meteorites and meteor-wrongs
- Black crust: Meteorites can be made up of different material, but they all have one thing in common: they all have to have fallen through the Earth's atmosphere and landed on the ground. That journey through the atmosphere up to 60km per second will cause the exterior of the rock to melt, forming a thin, black shiny exterior to form on the outside, called a fusion crust. In rocks that have been on the ground for a while, the fusion crust might have chipped away, revealing that the rock is a different colour inside. That is a helpful sign.
- Heavy: A meteorite is a dense rock, sometimes with iron inside, so it should feel heavier than a normal earth rock of the same size.
- Smooth dents: Looking at the surface of the rock, you might be able to see smooth indentations, which looks like someone has pressed their thumb into the rock and left an impression, like it was soft clay. Those are called regmaglypts. It should have smoothed or rounded edges, rather than sharp rocky points.
- Magnetic: Use a magnet to see if the rock is magnetic. About 90 per cent of meteorites are magnetic. If the rock sticks to your magnet, even faintly, that could be a sign it is a meteorite. But it's not a guarantee, because Earth rocks can be magnetic, like iron-rich earth rocks or magnetite. Industrial by-product can also be magnetic and look like a meteorite.
If you think your rock is a meteorite — or even just a meteor-maybe — send a photo to the team at the Desert Fireball Network, for a meteorite expert to have a look.
Either way, send us a photo of your finds via the ABC Science Facebook page.