Meteorites are meteors that reach the surface of the earth without having disintegrated. The Cape York Meteorite, which comes from the center of a small planet that was broken apart, is a type known as an iron meteorite; it is composed of metallic iron and nickel, similar to the metallic core at the center of the earth. The metal, exposed at one end of the largest piece, reveals some of the meteorite's history.

The Cape York Meteorite was discovered in 1894 by Arctic explorer Robert Peary, who brought it to New York three years later, after several expeditions to the site. For centuries it had been used by Eskimos as a source of iron for knives and other weapons (by the time Peary discovered the meteorite, the Eskimos were able to obtain iron through trade). This use is most evident in the two smaller pieces on view at the Museum, which are worn smooth from scraping. The large piece, which retains more of its pitted surface, is marked by holes that were made after the meteorite arrived at the Museum, for reasons we no longer know.

Visitors are allowed to touch the Cape York Meteorite. When they do so, they are touching an object that is as old as the planets and the Sun, and that has been used for both practical, everyday purposes and for acquiring important information about how the solar system and planets were formed.