2. A meteoroid is a small
rocky or metallic body
travelling through space.
Meteoroids are
significantly smaller than
asteroids, and range in size
from small grains to 1
meter-wide objects.
Most are fragments from
comets or asteroids, while
others are collision impact
debris ejected from bodies
such as the Moon or Mars.
3. The visible streak of light from space
debris is the result of heat as it enters a
planet's atmosphere, and the trail of
glowing particles that it sheds in its wake
is called a meteor, or colloquially a
"shooting star" or "falling star". A series
of many meteors appearing seconds or
minutes apart, and appearing to originate
from the same fixed point in the sky, is
called a meteor shower.
4. When meteoroids intersect with the
Earth's atmosphere at night, they are
likely to become visible as meteors.
If meteoroids survive the entry
through the atmosphere and reach the
Earth's surface, they are called
meteorites.
Meteorites are transformed in
structure and chemistry by the heat
of entry and force of impact
5. A meteor or "shooting
star" is the visible
streak of light from a
meteoroid or
micrometeoroid, heated
and glowing from
entering the Earth's
atmosphere, as it
sheds glowing material
in its wake.
6. Meteors typically occur
in the mesosphere at
altitudes between 76 km
to 100 km (46–62
miles.
The root word meteor
comes from the Greek
meteōros, meaning
"suspended in the air".
Millions of meteors
occur in the Earth's
atmosphere daily.
7. The visible light produced by a
meteor may take on various hues,
depending on the chemical
composition of the meteoroid, and
the speed of its movement through
the atmosphere. As layers of the
meteoroid abrade and ionize, the
color of the light emitted may
change according to the layering of
minerals. Possible colors (and
elements producing them) include:
• Orange/yellow (sodium)
• Yellow (iron)
• Blue/green (copper)
• Purple (potassium)
• Red (silicate)
