Meteors
By Ragib Arnab
What is an Meteor, Meteoroid, and Meteorite
Meteoroid- Meteoroids are the smallest members of the solar system, its size range from a kilometer to a much smaller micrometeoroids.
Meteor- Meteors are meteoroids that reached the planet's atmosphere, where it vaporizes as a flash of light as it goes down to the ground.
Meteorite- An meteorite is a meteor which managed to survive the atmosphere and reached the ground before it burns away.
NASA SCI Files - Meteors
What are the Physical Characteristics of Meteor
Meteoroids are made out of rock and iron. It is often debris of destroyed asteroids, planets, or other larger solid matter in the solar system. Sometimes, the meteorites that landed on Earth are magnetic, which can interfere with devices such as compasses. Each day, about 50 tons of space debris falls to the Earth's atmosphere, 99% of it is speckles of dusts called micrometeoroids.
Location of Meteors
Meteoroids are located everywhere in space, but when it turns into a meteor, it usually burns up in the mesosphere. Mesosphere is a region in the atmosphere where meteors most frequently appears. The mesosphere ranges from 50 to 80 km in attitude.
Chart of the Atmosphere
This is a diagram to show the mesosphere.
Mesosphere Photograph
This photo represents an space shuttle in the mesosphere. The mesosphere is the between white and the dark blue part of the atmosphere, and all the blackness up there is the thermosphere.
Meteor Diagram
This is a diagram that shows the process of meteoroids striking the atmosphere.
Meteor Showers
Meteor showers are rapid amounts of space debris that falls to the atmosphere. It usually occurs when a comet strikes the Earth during its orbit.