The flash of light one sees in the sky when a meteoroid enters the atmosphere at high speed and burns up It's a Greek word which actually means "phenomenon which occurs in the sky "
the light phenomenon produced by a meteoroid experiencing frictional heating when entering a planetary atmosphere; also used for the glowing meteoroid itself If particularly bright, it is described as a fireball
Particles (usually small) as they burn up in the atmosphere, usually leaving a brief trail of light behind them as seen from the ground See also: fireball, meteor shower, meteorite, meteoroid, radiant
Small rocky and/or icy particles that are swept up by the earth in its orbit about the sun Also called "shooting stars", they travel across the sky in a very short time, from less than a second to several seconds, and they do so because they are only a matter of tens of miles above the surface of the earth Meteor showers are generally thought to be produced by the debris left by comets as the latter orbit the sun (Comets, on the other hand, are not in our atmosphere but are much further away than is our own Moon; therefore, comets do not "streak" across the sky as do meteors -- a common misconception among the general public ) A small particle which enters the earth's atmosphere (at a velocity of anything up to 72km, per second) and becomes heated by friction, so that it destroys itself in the streak of luminosity known as a shooting-star
The light phenomenon produced by an object experiencing frictional heating when entering a planetary atmosphere; also used for the glowing meteor itself If particularly large, it is described as a fireball
A bit of solid debris from space, burning up in Earth's atmosphere due to friction with the air (The luminous streaks they trace across the sky are commonly called "shooting stars,'' although they have nothing to do with stars!) Before entering Earth's atmosphere (with a typical speed of about 25,000 mph) the body is called a meteoroid If any of the object survives its fiery passage down through the air, then those parts which hit the ground are called meteorites
A meteor is a piece of rock or metal that burns very brightly when it enters the earth's atmosphere from space. a piece of rock or metal that travels through space, and makes a bright line in the night sky when it falls down towards the Earth (météore, from meteorum, from meteoron , from meteoros ). or shooting star or falling star Streak of light in the sky that results when a particle or small chunk of stony or metallic matter from space enters Earth's atmosphere and is vapourized by friction. The term is sometimes applied to the falling object itself, properly called a meteoroid. Most meteoroids, traveling at five times the speed of sound or more, burn up in the upper atmosphere, but a large one may survive its fiery plunge and reach the surface as a solid body (meteorite). See also meteor shower
Also known as a "shooting star" or "falling star", is a bright streak of light in the sky caused by a meteorite as it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere
A bright streak of light in the sky caused by a meteoroid or a small icy particle entering Earth's atmosphere It is also known as a "shooting star" or "falling star " Meteor showers sometimes occur when the Earth passes through debris left behind an orbitting comet
A small particle which enters the Earth's atmosphere (at a velocity of anything up to 72km, per second) and becomes heated by friction, so that it destroys itself in the streak of luminosity known as a shooting-star
The bright streak of light that appears in the sky as a result of friction between a meteoroid and the air molecules in our atmosphere Entering the atmosphere at speeds between 10 and 70 kilometers per second, the friction-generated heat is hot enough to melt the surface layer of the object and ionize the air The term originated with the Greeks circa 350 B C In its original Greek form, the word was meteora/meteoros and meant something raised up high into the air Most of the meteors that are observed are produced by a meteoroid that is no larger than a grain of sand The altitude at which the visible streak of light first appears is approximately 110 kilometers, +/- 20 kilometers
This term describes the bright streak of light caused by a meteoroid as it burns up in Earth's atmosphere Other names for a meteor include "shooting star" and "falling star"
a streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and air friction causes the meteoroid to melt or vaporize or explode
Popularly called a "shooting star" or a "falling star", a meteor is actually an object usually ranging from the size of a dust particle to a rock that enters Earth's atmosphere, and is heated by the friction of air resistance Most meteors originate from comets
meteoroid from space zips through the atmosphere at many thousands of miles per hour There are two schools of thought as to why the meteoroid heats up so much The classical view is that it is caused by collisions with molecules in the atmosphere, commonly considered the same as friction The other version deals with compression of the air in front of the moving particle ("ram pressure") The atmosphere in front of the meteoroid is pushed pushed violently out of the way, which compresses it The high compression heats the air (adiabatic compression) which in turn heats the meteoroid, and both the air and the particles of meteoroid are ionized and begin to glow In any event, a rapidly traveling meteoroid carries momentum (mass times velocity), and upon entering our atmosphere is slowed very quickly (decelerated) In the process of rapid deceleration, the energy of motion has to go somewhere, and it if cannot be drained off immediately, it turns to heat