meteorite
The solid portion of a meteor that hits Earth’s surface.
meteoroid
Asmall rock in interplanetary space that has not yet entered Earth’s atmosphere.
meteor shower
An area of frequent meteors appearing to originate in a particular part of the sky.
Points to Consider
- In 2006, astronomers changed the definition of a planet and created a new category of
dwarf planets. Do you think planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, and meteoroids
are clearly separate groups? - What defines each of these groups, and what do objects in these different groups have
in common? Could an object change from being in one group to another? How? - We have learned about many different kinds of objects that are found within our solar
system. What objects or systems of objects can you think of that are found outside
our solar system?
Image Sources
(1) NASA.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Venus2_mag_big.png. Public
Domain.(2) NASA.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Venuspioneeruv.jpg. Public
Domain.(3) NASA.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Jupiter.jpg. Public Domain.(4) NASA.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MESSENGER_EN0108828359M.png.
Public Domain.(5) CK-12 Foundation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Geoz_wb_en.jpg.
CC-BY-SA.(6) NASA.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:951_Gaspra.jpg. Public Domain.