What is a shooting star quizlet?
What is a “shooting star”? A streak of light caused by a small particle from space burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
What is another name for a shooting star quizlet?
Terms in this set (10) A meteor is the light streak made by a meteoroid as it streaks through the atmosphere, also called a shooting star. A meteorite refers to a meteoroid after it impacts the Earth’s surface.
What are meteors quizlet?
STUDY. what is a meteor? A “shooting star”, that streak of light that appears in the night sky for a fraction of a second, is a meteor. It is the glowing trail of hot gas and vaporized debris left by a solid object heated by friction at it moves through the Earth’s atmosphere.
What is a meteor quizlet astronomy?
What is a meteor? A) A glowing trail of hot gas and debris heated by friction as an object moves through the atmosphere. B) A space rock that survives its fall through the Earth’s atmosphere and reaches the ground.
What causes a meteor shower quizlet?
Meteor showers are caused by the Earth passing through the orbit of a comet. Swarms of dust particles left behind by the passage of the comet are swept up by the Earth. About 10-50 flashes of light (meteors) will be observed per hour as this dust burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
What causes a meteor shower?
Comets shed particles that appear as a dusty trail behind the “dirty snowball” of rock, ice, and gas that makes up the comet’s nucleus. As the Earth passes through a comet’s tail, the rocky debris collides with our atmosphere, creating the colorful streaks of a meteor shower.
What are meteor showers named after quizlet?
Meteor showers are named after a star or constellation that is close to where they appear in the sky.
Which of the following is a good definition of a meteor quizlet?
A small piece of solid matter that enters Earth’s atmosphere from interplanetary space and burns up; it is also called a “shooting star”
What are comets quizlet?
Comet. A loose collection of ice, dust, and small rocky particles, typically with a long narrow orbit.
What are asteroids quizlet?
a small rocky object that orbits the sun.
Where are meteors found quizlet?
Most of them are fragments of asteroids that broke apart long ago in the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter.
What is a shooting star made of?
A “falling star” or a “shooting star” has nothing at all to do with a star! These amazing streaks of light you can sometimes see in the night sky are caused by tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the Earth’s atmosphere and burning up.
What are commonly called shooting stars?
Meteors are often referred to as shooting stars or falling stars because of the bright tail of light they create as they pass through the sky. Most meteors occur in Earth’s mesosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
What are meteor showers quizlet?
What classifies a meteor?
Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes, it becomes a meteor, which is often called a shooting star. Meteorite: If a small asteroid or large meteoroid survives its fiery passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and lands on Earth’s surface, it is then called a meteorite.
Which of the following is a good definition of a meteor?
A meteor is a space rock—or meteoroid—that enters Earth’s atmosphere. As the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance—or drag—of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot.
What are comets and asteroids quizlet?
Made from frozen ice, gas, and dust. Comets. Known as planetoids. asteroids. Made of rock or iron/metal.
What are comets made of quizlet?
They are composed of rock, dust, ice and frozen gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia. A comet’s NUCLEUS is like a dirty snowball made of ice.
What are asteroids and comets quizlet?
What is actually a shooting star?
Shooting stars, or meteors, are caused by tiny specks of dust from space. These particles burn up 65 to 135 km above Earth’s surface as they plunge at terrific speeds into the upper atmosphere, making the air glow as they pass.