METEOROID, METEORITE, METEOR

A bright tail or streak that appears in the sky when an asteroid is heated and gives off light due to the friction with the earth’s atmosphere.  Also called a falling star, shooting star, meteoroid or meteorite.

1.      Meteoroids burn up in atmosphere and fall to Earth as dust.

2.      Every day, approximately 3000 metric tons of dusty space material fall to Earth.

3.      travel around Sun in a variety of orbits and at various speeds

4.      fastest meteoroids move at about 42 kilometers per second

5.      meteoroids about the size of a pebble

6.      When one of these pieces of debris enters Earth's atmosphere, friction between the debris and atmospheric gases heats it to the point that it glows and becomes visible to our eyes. This streak of light in the sky is known as a meteor

7.      On most dark nights, meteors can be seen. The chance of seeing a meteor with the unaided eye increases after midnight

8.      Brightest of the meteors are called fireballs. Sonic booms often follow the appearance of a fireball just as thunder often follows lightning

9.      If meteor does not burn up completely, remaining portion hits Earth and is then called a meteorite - over 100 hit  Earth each year

10. Larger meteorites believed to have originated in the asteroid belt. Some smaller meteorites identified as moon rock, while still others identified as pieces of Mars.

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