What happens when a meteorite hits the ground?

When a large meteorite hits the ground it can produce a crater. Meteorite craters are rare on earth, because the atmosphere slows the meteorite and also usually burns it up. Many ancient meteorite craters have been worn away by water and by weather over thousands of years. On planets and moons with no atmosphere, huge numbers of meteorites strike with enormous power. Our own moon is estimated to have 3000000 million meteorite craters measuring 1m or more in diameter. Some of the large geographical features on the moon and other planets and moons throughout the Solar System are probably the result of strikes by large meteors hitting their surfaces.