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Meteorite Facts

A meteor is actually a reference to the streak of light produced when solar matter enters the Earth's atmosphere. The light is produced by the friction created. The actual solar matter is referred to as a meteoroid. Meteoroids are debris that can orbit the sun or dwell in the space between planets. Meteoroids are classified largely by size, being too small to qualify as an asteroid or comet. A meteoroid is not called a meteorite until it hits the atmosphere or reaches the surface of a planet.

Finds and Falls
- When a meteorite is observed falling and collected afterward, it is called a fall. Meteorites that are found without being observed falling are called finds.
Height
- Most meteorites burn up in the atmosphere between 50 to 70 miles above the Earth's surface.
Types
- There are three main types of meteorites: chondrite, stony iron and iron. Chondrite meteorites are the most common.
The Moon
- Some specimens of a special kind of meteorite, called achondrites, have been shown to have originated on the moon.
Perseids
- The Perseid Meteor shower is an annual event that occurs in early August as the Earth passes through the debris trail left by the Swift-Tuttle comet.

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