This interactive exhibition at the Natural History Museum just minutes from our hotels presents over 350 meteorites in a presentation punctuated by spectacular large-scale projections.

Here’s all the info.

The meteorites exhibition is divided into three parts: the fall, rocks form outer space and archives of the past (yep, almost all meteorites are older than any stone on earth).

During ‘the fall’, we learn that less than 5,000 meteorites weighing over a kilo land on earth each year. The meteorite reaches a temperature of 1,500°C and loses over 90% of its mass by evaporation before it lands.

In France, there have been just 64 witnessed falls and 13 meteorites found without their fall being seen. The biggest – called La Caille – weighs 625kg and is part of the exhibition. And if you think you have a meteorite at home, you can ask the museum to check it for you here!

#Expometeorites En direct des coulisses de l’exposition : arrivée de la météorite “La Caille” qui avec ses 625 kg est la plus grosse météorite française ! Elle a été découverte par un berger, dans le massif de l’Audibergue (Alpes-Maritimes), non loin du village qui lui a donné son nom. Utilisée quelque temps comme enclume par un maréchal-ferrant qui finit par la délaisser, elle sert de banc devant l’Église de Caille pendant plusieurs années avant de rejoindre les collections du Muséum en 1829. Venez la découvrir à partir du 18 octobre ! #expo #meteorites #lacaille #audibergue #astronomie #astrophysique #cosmochimie #pierres #mineralogie #extraterrestre #univers #planetes #exploration #trouvaille #crateres #impacts #meteoroide #meteore #etoilefilante #recherchespatiale #science #museum #mnhn #grandegaleriedelevolution #jardindesplantes #paris — @france5 @troiscouleurs__ @anousparis @franceinfo_

A post shared by MNHN. Compte officiel (@le_museum) on Sep 26, 2017 at 6:37am PDT

The exhibition explains where meteorites come from and the different types, and even has an art show displaying creations from eight modern artists.

Three online dossiers (in French) might be useful in preparing your visit, there a glossary (in French) to help explain all the big words, and two books (in French) have more info on the subject – meteorites, entre ciel et terre (available at the museum) and Une belle histoire de meteorites (112 pages, 25€ here at amazon.fr).

There are also conferences, special events, guided visits (including a tactile one!) and debates (all the details are here).
The exhibition Meteorites is at the Natural History Museum (Muséum national d’histoire naturelle) (here) from 18th October 2017 – 10th June 2018

Open every day except Tuesdays from 10am-6pm

Exceptionally open Tuesday 26th December 2017 and 2nd January 2018

Admission (includes the permanent collection) : 11€ / 9€

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