Meteor and Meteorite

Introduction

Have you ever wondered how a shooting star falls in the night sky? Is it a star or some other foreign body that we see flying down, or is it something else entirely? What is the name of this flashy object? Is it a comet, an asteroid, or a meteor? How do we tell the difference between these things? It’s vital to remember that the Earth is constantly blasted with thousands of tons of space dust and other small debris. Another word we can say It’s probably safe to say that the rocks from space provoke both awe and dread in humans. Knowing a little more about meteors and meteorites, on the other hand, may help to dispel some of your concerns.

Meteor

Meteors are fireballs or shooting stars that enter Earth’s atmosphere at great speeds and burn up as a result of the atmosphere. As a meteoroid or asteroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and breaks apart, it emits light. The meteoroid will fly unchanged through space, but it will experience high friction and melt once it reaches the Earth’s atmosphere. A meteor tail created by a grain-sized meteoroid is around a metre broad but could be many miles long due to the tremendous speed of the debris. Meteors are classified into several categories based on their size and brightness. Earth grazers are meteors with the longest and most colourful tails that streak close to the horizon. The most common type of meteor is a fireball, which lasts longer and shines brighter than earth grazers. Bolides are larger than fireballs and most of the time they detonate in the atmosphere. As they emit a sonic boom, we can hear an explosion and feel it on the ground.

Meteors come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Earth grazers are meteors that streak near to the horizon and have the longest and most colourful tails. A fireball is the most common type of meteor, as it is brighter and lasts longer than earth grazers. They could be the size of a basketball or the size of a small car.Bolides are larger than fireballs and explode in the atmosphere the majority of the time. Their explosion may be heard and felt on the ground as they create a sonic boom.

What are meteor showers and how do they happen?

We can only see a few meteors during a meteor shower, and the sky appears to be filled with fireworks. When a meteor shower happens, we can see that the entire shower originates from a single point called the radiant point. Meteor showers are given names based on constellations. The Leonid meteor shower, named after the constellation Leonid, is the most well-known meteor shower.  The shower appears to be coming from the constellation, but the comet Tempel-Tuttle is the source.

Meteorite

A little portion of each asteroid breaks off when two asteroids collide.The bits of asteroids that remain after a collision are known as meteorites. A meteorite is a tiny asteroid that can range in size from a few millimetres to one metre in diameter. Meteoroids travel at speeds ranging from 11 to 72 kilometres per second as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Meteorites are typically quite small, ranging in size from a fraction of a gramme (the size of a pebble) to 100 kilograms (220 lbs). Micrometeorites are meteorites that are less than 2mm in diameter. Meteorites are divided into three categories based on their structure, chemical, and isotopic content, as well as mineralogy. Stony meteorites are silicate minerals-rich rocks; iron meteorites are mostly constituted of metallic iron-nickel; and stony-iron meteorites have a mixture of metallic and rocky elements. On the moon and Mars, we discovered meteorites as well. Scientists have linked meteorites found on Earth to four additional bodies: the moon, Mars, the asteroid 4 Vesta, and the comet Wild 2. Meteorites have provided us with a vast lot of information on the makeup of other celestial bodies. The differences between them is given below🡪

Conclusion

Meteors are fireballs or shooting stars that enter Earth’s atmosphere at great speeds and burn up as a result of the atmosphere. As a meteoroid or asteroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and breaks apart, it emits light. When two asteroids collide, a little chunk of each asteroid breaks off. Meteorites are the fragments of asteroids that remain after a collision. A meteorite is a tiny asteroid that can range in size from a few millimetres to one metre in diameter. Earth grazers are meteors with the longest and most colourful tails that streak close to the horizon.