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Why can some meteorites be cool enough to touch soon after they land?

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Meteor and meteoroid The Cabin Creek meteorite, an iron (nickel-iron alloy) meteorite that was observed to fall in northwestern Arkansas on March 27, 1886. Its characteristic pattern of “thumbprint” dimples, or regmaglypts, is the result of melting and consequent ablation of its surface as it traveled through the atmosphere. The meteorite is likely a fragment of one of the M class asteroids, which show significant nickel-iron in their surface material.

It is a common misconception that meteorites are searing hot when they land. In reality, many meteorites are cool enough to touch immediately after reaching the ground because of the way they interact with the atmosphere during their descent.1

While a meteoroid experiences intense heat due to friction and compression as it streaks through the upper atmosphere, this heating is primarily a surface phenomenon. The intense heat causes the surface to melt and ablate, but because the duration of this flight is relatively short and the interior of the rock is a poor conductor of heat, the internal temperature remains largely unaffected.1

Furthermore, once the object is slowed down by atmospheric braking—typically at altitudes of 5–25 km—it enters a phase of "dark flight." During this final descent, which can last several minutes, the meteorite cools significantly as it falls at low velocities. By the time it impacts the Earth, it has lost most of its surface heat, leaving only a thin, dark fusion crust as evidence of its fiery passage.1