What is a meteor?
Q: What is a meteor?
A: A meteor is what you see when a space rock falls to Earth. It is often known as a shooting star or falling star and can be a bright light in the night sky, though most are faint.
Q: What happens when a meteor enters Earth's atmosphere?
A: When the meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere they are usually going faster than the Earth's escape velocity of 13 km/sec or Mach 40. This makes them heat up and usually break apart, causing them to glow and become known as meteors.
Q: What is the difference between meteors, comets, and asteroids?
A: Meteors are distinct from comets or asteroids, but some, especially those associated with meteor showers, are dust particles that came out of comets.
Q: What types of meteorites exist?
A: There are several types of meteorites including stony, carbonaceous chondrites, and iron-nickel. Stony meteorites are named because they are largely made up of stone-like mineral material. Carbonaceous chondrites have a high carbon content. Iron-nickel meteorites are mostly iron often with significant nickel as well.
Q: When did most Meteorite strikes occur?
A: Meteorites were often during the Late Heavy Bombardment period which occurred around 4 billion years ago.
Q: How much damage has been caused by Meteorite strikes in recent times?
A: Nowadays they sometimes hurt people and property; The 2013 Russian meteor event did the most damage in recent times. Large Meteorite strikes may have played a part in several mass extinctions over time as well.
