• A meteor is a streak of light in the sky caused by a meteoroid crashing through Earth’s atmosphere. 
     
    Meteoroids are lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun. Most meteoroids are small fragments of rock created by asteroid collisions. Comets also create meteoroids as they orbit the sun and shed dust and debris. 
     
    When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s upper atmosphere, it heats up due to friction from the air. The heat causes gases around the meteoroid to glow brightly, and a meteor appears. Meteors are often referred to as shooting stars or falling stars because of the bright tail of light they create as they pass through the sky. Most meteors occur in Earth’s mesosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
     
    Even the smallest meteors are visible from many kilometers away because of how fast they travel and how brightly they shine. The fastest meteors travel at speeds of 71 kilometers (44 miles) per second. 
     
    The faster and larger the meteor, the brighter and longer it may glow. The smallest meteors only glow for about a second while larger and faster meteors can be visible for up to several minutes. Although thousands of meteors fall during the day, meteors are best observed at night, when the streaks of light are visible in the dark sky.
     
    Meteors appear in different colors, depending on the chemical composition of the space rock and the air it is passing through. A meteor with high iron content, for instance, will appear yellow. A meteor with high calcium content may appear as a purple streak of light.
     
    Scientists think up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble. Meteors that don’t burn up in the atmosphere strike Earth’s surface. These meteors are called meteorites. 
     
    Types of Meteors
     
    Meteors are described by their size, brightness and proximity to Earth. 
     
    Earthgrazers are meteors that streak close to the horizon and are known for their long and colorful tails. Some earthgrazers bounce off Earth’s upper atmosphere and re-enter outer space. Other earthgrazers break up in the atmosphere and streak through the sky as falling stars. 
     
    The most famous earthgrazer is probably the “1972 Great Daylight Fireball,” which entered the atmosphere over the U.S. state of Utah, streaking through the sky at 15 kilometers per second (9 miles per second). Thousands of people reported seeing the meteor. The earthgrazer exited the atmosphere over the Canadian province of Alberta.
     
    Fireballs are larger meteors, ranging in size from a basketball to a small car. Fireballs have brighter and longer-lasting light than earthgrazers. The International Astronomical Union describes a fireball as a “meteor brighter than any of the planets.”
     
    Fireballs are probably the most common type of meteor. Members of organizations such as the American Meteor Society report hundreds of sightings every year. As of July 2014, for instance, more than 1,500 fireballs were reported in the United States. Some were seen only in a small area, while others were reported by stargazers across several states. 
     
    Bolides are even brighter and more massive than fireballs and often explode in the atmosphere. These explosions can be heard and even felt on the Earth’s surface. Some astronomers classify bolides as fireballs that produce a sonic boom as they streak through the atmosphere.
     
    Certain bolides, known as superbolides, are so bright and create such a large explosion that they become natural hazards, and dangerous to people and communities. The superbolide meteor that passed over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 exploded with the energy of around 500 kilotons of TNT. Its shock wave shattered windows in thousands of apartment buildings and sent more than 1,200 people to the hospital for injuries. The Chelyabinsk meteor was so bright—30 times brighter than the sun at its most intense—that it left people with skin and retinal burns. Scientists are studying the Chelyabinsk event to better understand how vulnerable human life is to space object collisions, and to develop technologies that protect Earth from them.
     
    Meteor Showers
     
    Usually, just a few meteors are visible over the course of an hour, but sometimes the sky is filled with lights that look like heavenly fireworks. These meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet. 
     
    Comets shed particles that appear as a dusty trail behind the “dirty snowball” of rock, ice, and gas that makes up the comet’s nucleus. As the Earth passes through a comet’s tail, the rocky debris collides with our atmosphere, creating the colorful streaks of a meteor shower. Meteor storms are even more intense than showers, defined as having at least 1,000 meteors per hour.
     
    All the meteors in a meteor shower seem to come from one spot in the sky. This spot is called the radiant point, or simply the radiant. 
     
    Meteor showers are named after the constellation in which their radiant appears. The source of the meteors is not the constellation, of course, but rather the comet from which they have broken off. For example, the Leonid meteor shower appears to produce meteors falling from the constellation Leo, but are actually debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Visible every November, the Leonids are considered some of the fastest and longest-lasting meteors. Other important meteor showers include the Perseids, the Orionids, and the Geminids. Like the Leonids, they are predictable events, occuring yearly at specific times.
    meteor
    One of the Perseids burns up in Earth's atmosphere.

    Bright Nights
    The most brilliant meteor shower in recorded history happened on November 12-13, 1833, when tens of thousands of meteors lit up the sky in just four hours. In contrast, most showers produce fewer than 100 meteors an hour. The 1833 display was one of the Leonid showers that occur every November.

    Tecumseh
    Communities and cultures all over the world have been familiar with meteors for hundreds and even thousands of years. The name of the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh, for instance, means “Shooting Star.”
    Tunguska
    The largest meteor air burst in recorded history occurred over the forests of Siberia, Russia, near the Tunguska River in 1902. The so-called Tunguska Event leveled millions of trees and exploded with the power of about 12,000 kilotons of TNT.
  • Term Part of Speech Definition Encyclopedic Entry
    air Noun

    layer of gases surrounding Earth.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: air
    asteroid Noun

    irregularly shaped planetary body, ranging from 6 meters (20 feet) to 933 kilometers (580 miles) in diameter, orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
    astronomer Noun

    person who studies space and the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere.
    atmosphere Noun

    layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: atmosphere
    bolide Noun

    unusually large, bright meteor.
    classify Verb

    to identify or arrange by specific type or characteristic.
    collision Noun

    crash.
    comet Noun

    celestial object made up of ice, gas, and dust that orbits the sun and leaves a tail of debris.
    Comet Tempel-Tuttle Noun

    comet that orbits the sun every 33 years.
    composition Noun

    arrangement of the parts of a work or structure in relation to each other and to the whole.
    constellation Noun

    group of stars that form a recognizable shape.
    debris Noun

    remains of something broken or destroyed; waste, or garbage.
    dust Noun

    microscopic particles of rocks or minerals drifting in space. Also called cosmic dust or space dust.
    earthgrazer Noun

    meteor that enters Earth's atmosphere and usually leaves again.
    explosion Noun

    violent outburst; rejection, usually of gases or fuel
    fireball Noun

    very bright meteor.
    fragment Noun

    piece or part.
    friction Noun

    force produced by rubbing one thing against another.
    gas Noun

    state of matter with no fixed shape that will fill any container uniformly. Gas molecules are in constant, random motion.
    horizon Noun

    line where the Earth and the sky seem to meet.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: horizon
    ice Noun

    water in its solid form.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: ice
    intense Adjective

    extreme or strong.
    Leonid meteor shower Noun

    annual event, usually in November, when debris from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle fall as meteors. Also called the Leonids.
    local Adjective

    having to do with the area around a specific place.
    Mars Noun

    fourth planet from the sun, between Earth and Jupiter.
    massive Adjective

    very large or heavy.
    mesosphere Noun

    region in Earth's atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
    meteor Noun

    rocky debris from space that enters Earth's atmosphere. Also called a shooting star or falling star.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: meteor
    meteorite Noun

    type of rock that has crashed into Earth from outside the atmosphere.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: meteorite
    meteoroid Noun

    small, rocky body traveling around the sun.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: meteoroid
    meteor shower Noun

    large amount of rocky debris falling into Earth's atmosphere, usually when Earth passes through the orbit of a comet.
    microscope Noun

    instrument used to view very small objects by making them appear larger.
    natural hazard Noun

    event in the physical environment that is destructive to human activity.
    observe Verb

    to watch.
    observer Noun

    someone who watches, or observes.
    occur Verb

    to happen or take place.
    orbit Noun

    path of one object around a more massive object.
    outer space Noun

    space beyond Earth's atmosphere.
    particle Noun

    small piece of material.
    pebble Noun

    very small, rounded rock.
    planet Noun

    large, spherical celestial body that regularly rotates around a star.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: planet
    predictable Adjective

    regular or able to be forecasted.
    protect Verb

    to take action to prevent injury or attack.
    province Noun

    division of a country larger than a town or county.

    		 Encyclopedic Entry: province
    proximity Noun

    nearness.
    radiant point Noun

    spot in the sky from which a meteor shower seems to originate.
    retina Noun

    sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that receives images and sends signals to the brain about what is seen.
    rock Noun

    natural substance composed of solid mineral matter.
    shed Verb

    to release or cast off.
    shock wave Noun

    moving, measurable change in pressure and density of a material.
    sonic boom Noun

    loud noise caused by sound waves as an object travels at supersonic speed.
    specific Adjective

    exact or precise.
    sun Noun

    star at the center of our solar system.
    tail Noun

    stream of gas or dust debris behind a comet.
    visible Adjective

    able to be seen.
    vulnerable Adjective

    capable of being hurt.

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Last Updated

Aug. 1, 2014

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