Meteors
Little chunks of rock!
What are meteors?
Little chunks of rock in space are called meteorites. They become meteors when they fall through a planet's atmosphere. Most meteors break apart in the upper atmosphere and are called "fluffy meteors."
What Is A Meteor?
How many meteors fall onto the Earth?
Scientists think that 1,000 tons to more than 10,000 tons of meteorites fall onto Earth everyday. But these meteorites are very small (the size of a dust particle.) The particles are so tiny that the air resistence is enough to slow them sufficiently that they do not burn up and rather fall gently onto the Earth
Some well known Meteor showers
Perseid
The Perseid meteor shower has been observed for about 2,000 years.
Quadrantids
The Quadrantids are January meteor showers.
Lyrids
This shower is active anywhere between April 16-25
Meteors that landed on Earth!
meteors
The biggest individual meteorite was found in Southwest Africa. It had a mass of 54,000 kilograms and mostly consisted of iron. Another six meteorites were found in Antarctica that are believed to have come from Planet Mars. A large fireball was spotted on the morning of February 15, 2013 and landed in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Russian Meteor Caught on Camera