Teacher resources – Celestial bodies
Meteor (1979) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]
What was the fear among the scientists?
What was being referred to as having the power of many hydrogen bombs?
What could travel faster than any rocket?
Which force can shatter continents?
ANSWER IS
METEORS and their collision with our planet Earth.
What are meteors? Where do they come from? What are their characteristics? What is their
impact on Earth?
Meteors are sometimes referred to as shooting stars or falling stars. They look like thin streaks of
light which are actually NOT stars but SPACE ROCKS that are crashing through the Earth’s
atmosphere.
METEORS BEGIN AS METEOROIDS.
Meteoroids are small pieces of rock or metal that break off a comet or an asteroid when they
crash into each other. They can also be formed by the debris left behind a comet.
When these small pieces of rock are pulled into the earth’s atmosphere, they are called meteors.
The meteors heat up and burn in the Earth's atmosphere. If more than one of these meteors burn
up, then you get to see a meteor shower. This looks like thousands of shooting stars in the sky.
When a meteoroid DOES NOT burn in the Earth's atmosphere, it is called a meteorite. The space
rock instead falls on to the surface of the Earth.
THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTION:
What is the significance or relevance of a meteorite?
ANSWER:
Meteorites that fall to Earth represent some of the original, diverse materials that formed planets
billions of years ago.
By studying meteorites, we can learn about early conditions and processes in the solar system’s
history. These include the age and composition of different planetary building blocks, the
temperatures achieved at the surfaces and interiors of asteroids, and the degree to which
materials were shocked by impacts in the past.
In the beginning, we mentioned Meteoroids as small pieces of rock or metal that break off a
comet or an asteroid when they crash into each other.
Bigger question!
WHAT ARE ASTEROIDS AND COMETS?
An asteroid is a small rocky object that orbits the Sun. Asteroids are smaller than a
planet, but they are larger than the pebble-size objects we call meteoroids. Most
asteroids in our solar system are found in the main asteroid belt, a region between
Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid belt has an inner and outer part. The inner part is made
up of metals like gold, platinum, nickel and iron. The outer part of the asteroid belt it's
mainly made of rocks. Asteroids can also hang out in other locations around the solar
system. For example, some asteroids orbit the Sun in a path that takes them near
Earth. The biggest asteroid in our solar system is called Ceres. Since it is so big
scientists call it a dwarf planet. Ceres is one of the five dwarf planets and the closest
to the sun. The brightest asteroid in the sky is called Vesta which is also the second
largest object in the asteroid belt. Vesta can be seen from the earth without a
telescope. Most of the asteroids burn up in our atmosphere. But occasionally one of
them falls to the earth. These are called bolides of fireballs. Parts of Russia and
California have both been hit by Super bolides. They were 100 times brighter than the
full moon.
In fact, the most popular theory regarding the extinction of dinosaurs is related to
an asteroid that slammed into Earth causing widespread destruction and
obliterating most life forms on earth.
Sometimes one asteroid can smash into another. This can cause small pieces of the
asteroid to break off. Those pieces are called meteoroids. Meteoroids can also come
from comets.
Comets orbit the Sun, like asteroids. But comets are made of ice and dust—not rock.
As a comet’s orbit takes it toward the Sun, the ice and dust begin to vaporize. That
vaporized ice and dust become the comet’s tail. You can see a comet even when it is
very far from Earth. However, when you see a meteor, it’s in our atmosphere.
Quick summary
 meteoroid: A “space rock”—a relatively small object traveling through
space, between the size of a grain of dust and a small asteroid.
 meteor: A meteoroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up.
 meteorite: A meteoroid, especially one that has hit Earth’s surface.
 asteroid: A rocky object that orbits the sun and has an average size
between a meteoroid and a planet.
 comet: An object made mostly of ice and dust, often with a gas halo
and tail, that sometimes orbits the sun.
 Asteroids, comets and meteors are believed to be the leftover materials
from when the sun and the planets were created.
THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTION:
What is the study of meteors called?
The study of meteors is called meteoritics, and a person who studies meteors
is called a meteoriticist. The title of meteorologist was already taken by those
who study weather and weather patterns.
INTERESTING TIDBIT
The unmanned Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa landed on an asteroid and returned a
sample to Earth! Now, there is even a startup company called Planetary Resources,
formed with the goal of commercially mining asteroids for resources and raw
materials in space.