Meteor facts
 |
| leonid meteor |
- Meteors are sometimes called "shooting stars" or "falling stars." They are not stars at all.
- Meteors are lumps of metal or rock that are speeding around in space.
- When a meteor goes through the atmosphere of Earth, the meteor glows like a star and leaves a shining trail.
- When a meteor explodes in the atmosphere, it is called a bolide.
- Most meteors burn up 50 or 60 miles (80 or 96 km) above Earth.
- Meteors, in size, usually range from a grain of sand to a baseball.
- There are countless millions of meteors whirling through space.
- When meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere, the resistance of the atmosphere and the friction between the meteor's molecules and the molecules of the atmosphere cause the meteor to burn and glow.
- There are about nine annual meteor showers per year.
- The trail of the meteor may be an optical illustion. The eyesight retain a row of images of the meteor.
- Some meteors are probably fragments of old comets.
- In 1833, In the Leonid meteor shower, a meteor storm occured. Ten-thousand meteor's per hour were reported.
- A meteorite is a meteor or a piece of a meteor that lands on the surface of the earth.
- Tiny pieces of meteors or meteoric dust are falling to the earth constantly.
