meteoroid

thumb|upright=1.5|A meteoroid shown entering the atmosphere, causing a visible meteor and hitting the Earth's surface, becoming a [[meteorite]]

AI overview

A meteoroid is a small piece of rock or metal traveling through space that becomes visible as a meteor when it enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up. It matters because meteoroids that survive the fall and reach Earth's surface as meteorites can help scientists understand the composition of space and the history of our solar system.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

1,282 papers

High ambition.Nature · 2014DOI: 10.1038/515163b
Celestial effects on the skin.ReviewClinics in dermatology · 2020Hassan S, Bhatti J, Poulos C et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2019.09.001
Moon-based Earth observation.Science bulletin · 2022Guo H, Ding Y, Liu GDOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2022.08.014
Eyes and ears.Nature · 2013DOI: 10.1038/494281b
Cometary spin-down.Nature · 2018Agarwal JDOI: 10.1038/d41586-018-00008-6
Chirality and life.Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life · 1995Bonner WADOI: 10.1007/BF01581581
The search for extraterrestrial life.ReviewScientific American · 1994Sagan C, New Collective AuthorDOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican1094-92
Detection of centimeter-sized meteoroid impact events in Saturn's F ring.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 1998Showalter MRDOI: 10.1126/science.282.5391.1099

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Wikidata facts

Image: Meteoroid track through aerogel from EURECA mission.jpg

Show 3 more facts

Commons category: Meteoroids
exact match: purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_01001068
Stack Exchange tag: physics.stackexchange.com/tags/meteoroids

Sources (5)

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~10 min read

Article

12 sections

Contents

Meteoroids
Composition
In the Solar System
Collision with Earth's atmosphere
Meteorites
Impact craters
Gallery of meteorites
See also
Relating to meteoroids
Relating to meteorites
References
External links

thumb|upright=1.5|A meteoroid shown entering the atmosphere, causing a visible meteor and hitting the Earth's surface, becoming a [[meteorite]]

A meteoroid ( ) is a small body in outer space. Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to wide. Objects smaller than meteoroids are classified as micrometeoroids or space dust. Many are fragments from comets or asteroids, whereas others are collision impact debris ejected from bodies such as the Moon or Mars.