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A meteoroid (/ ˈ m iː t i ə r ɔɪ d / MEE-tee-ə-royd) [1] is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide. [2] Objects smaller than meteoroids are classified as micrometeoroids or space dust.
Meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere from outer space traveling at speeds of at least 11 km/s (7 mi/s) and often much faster. Despite moving through the rarified upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere the immense speed at which a meteor travels rapidly compresses the air in its path. The meteoroid then experiences what is known as ram pressure.
Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater. [2] Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transit the atmosphere and impact Earth are called meteorite falls.
Usually found on Earth's surface, micrometeorites differ from meteorites in that they are smaller in size, more abundant, and different in composition. The IAU officially defines meteoroids as 30 micrometers to 1 meter; micrometeorites are the small end of the range (~submillimeter). [1]
[103] [104] The Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to have caused over $30 million in damage. [105] [106] It is the largest recorded object to have encountered the Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event. [107] [108] The meteor is estimated to have an initial diameter of 17–20 metres and a mass of roughly 10,000 tonnes. On 16 October 2013, a team ...
Using artificial intelligence, scientists have discovered a crater from a meteoroid that they say shook material as deep as the Red Planet’s mantle: the layer between its crust and its core.
A meteor shower is at its best when the Earth passes through the densest part of the associated cosmic debris. That window, otherwise known as the shower's peak activity, is when stargazers will ...
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost ...