Meteoroid

A meteoroid is a relatively small (sand- to boulder-sized) fragment of debris in the Solar System. When entering a planet's atmosphere, the meteoroid heats up and partially or completely vaporizes. The gas along the path of the meteoroid becomes ionized and glows. The trail of glowing vapor is called a meteor, or shooting star. If any portion of the meteor survives to reach the ground, it is then referred to as a meteorite.

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• Bolide

Solar System: The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. Traditionally, it is said to consist of nine planets and their 156 (at last count) moons; however a large number of other objects, including asteroids, meteoroids, planetoids and comets orbit the Sun along with them....

Planet: A planet in common parlance is a large object in orbit around a star that is not a star itself. The name comes from the Greek term πλανήτης, planētēs, meaning "wanderer", as ancient astronomers noted how certain lights moved across the sky in relatio...

Atmosphere: Atmosphere may refer to:...