Question

Distinguish among the terms meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite. What, if anything, do any of these have to do with "shooting stars."

Answer 1

Meteoroids are objects in space that has a vast range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as “space rocks."

When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars or venus) at high speed and burn up, are called meteors. These are also called as the fireballs or “shooting stars”.

When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere after the burn up and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite.

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