Meteoroids,+Meteors,+and+Meteorites

__Learning About Our Solar System__: **Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites**
**Rohanth Aluri**

** Meteoroids ** :

 * ====Small space bodies aimlessly drifting through our Solar System====
 * ====Debris caused from the collisions made from the early days of our Solar Systems====
 * ====Meteoroids can range from the size of a sand grain, to as big as boulders up to 1 km in size====
 * ====Significant Difference in size compared to (much smaller than asteroids)====
 * ====Usually originated from Asteroids or Comets.====

**Meteors:**

 * ====Meteors are meteoroids that enter the atmosphere of another planet or a moon====
 * ====On Earth, Meteors are usually called 'Shooting Stars' or 'Falling Stars'====
 * ====Around 15,000 metric tons of Meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere each year.====

**Meteorite:**

 * ====Meteorites are meteoroids that enter the atmosphere of another planet, and survive impact by reaching the ground of that specific planet/moon.====
 * ====Three types of meteorites that have landed on Earth:====
 * 1) ====__Stony Meteorites__: rocks, mainly made up of silicate minerals (which are a combination of silicon and oxygen)====
 * 2) ====__Iron Meteorites__: composed of metallic iron-nickel====
 * 3) ====__Stony-Iron Meteorites__: composed of both rocky and metallic substances====

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[[image:mrconnorsses4ua/images.jpg align="right" caption="Meteoroids in Space"]]

 * ====Meteoroids were formed at the beginning of the solar system, along with planets, moons, asteroids, and comets====
 * ====Chunks from other comets or asteroids collide against each other to form Meteoroids====
 * ====In the early days of the Solar System, some meteoroids got pulled into Sun's gravitational force, and are still orbiting the sun in no particular pattern. But 90% of meteoroids in our solar system, are aimlessly wondering around space or getting attracted to the gravitational force of other planets, moons, or asteroids.====
 * ====There are millions and billions of Meteoroids in our solar system.====

**History of Meteorites on Earth:**

 * ====Millions of Meteorites enter the Earth's atmosphere each day! But only some make their way to the surface of the Earth.====
 * ====Meteorites first impacted long before human existence.====
 * ====They were the main reason for Dinosaur extinction, and reason behind our existence!====
 * ====Here is a link explaining the history of 'Willamette Meteorite' which landed on Earth in the early 1970s:====
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**Composition of Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites:**

 * ====95% of composition in Meteoroids is made up of Hydrogen & Helium====
 * ====The other 5% of a Meteoroid's composition is made up of heavier elements (such as Oxygen, Carbon, Sodium etc.)====
 * ====It is believed that most meteorites found on Earth are actually pieces of asteroids that have been chipped off in collisions, this indicates that a Meteoroids' composition is dependent on its corresponding asteroid.====

**Ancient** **Mythology:**

 * ==== The famous myth of the wishing when you see a 'Shooting Star' was originally created by the Native Americans. ====

**Fun Facts on** ** Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites: **

 * ====In 1954, a woman named Annie Hodges was struck by an eight-pound meteorite that crashed through her roof, bounced off a radio, and into her hip while she was napping in Sylacauga, Alabama. ====
 * ====Meteoroids are moving fast! Some Meteors enter Earth's atmosphere at as much as 130,000 miles/hour.====
 * ====The International Space Station is expected to be hit with an estimated 100,000 meteoroids during its expected 20-year life span.====
 * ====Around 500 meteorites reach the Earth’s surface every year but of those only around 5 ever make it to scientists for study (as 99% of meteorites go into oceans) ====
 * ====Meteoroids can be bought on eBay! ====

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