E.18 What's the difference between meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites?


Briefly, a meteoroid is piece of cosmic debris in the solar system.
It becomes a meteor when it enters Earth's atmosphere and begins to
glow brightly.  It becomes a meteorite if it survives and hits the
ground.

Three FAQs on different aspects of meteors and meteorites are
maintained by the American Meteor Society at
<URL:http://www.serve.com/meteors/>.

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Last Update July 06 2009 @ 00:05 AM