Glossary term: Meteoroide
Description: Un meteoroide es un fragmento de un asteroide o un cometa cuyo tamaño oscila entre unos pocos milímetros y varias decenas de metros. Los meteoroides pueden caer hacia cualquier cuerpo celeste, con o sin atmósfera, a una velocidad muy elevada. Si el cuerpo celeste tiene atmósfera, el meteoroide se frena al chocar con las moléculas atmosféricas. Observamos los meteoroides en la atmósfera terrestre como meteoros. Si el meteoroide no se destruye por completo en la atmósfera (o si el cuerpo celeste carece de atmósfera), cae a la superficie de dicho cuerpo, y entonces se denomina meteorito.
Related Terms:
See this term in other languages
Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
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In Other Languages
- Árabe: نيزك
- Alemán: Meteoroid
- Inglés: Meteoroid
- Francés: Météoroïde
- Italiano: Meteoroide
- Japonés: 流星物質 (external link)
- Coreano: 유성체
- Portugués de Brasil: Meteoroide
- Chino simplificado: 流星体
- Chino tradicional: 流星體
Related Media
Geminid Meteor Shower from China, by Dai Jianfeng, China
Caption: First place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Meteor showers.
A meteor shower occurs when the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, passes through a debris trail left previously by a comet on its approach around the Sun. As the Earth enters this debris (small sand grain sized), they enter the atmosphere at high speeds and on parallel trajectories, burning completely leaving beautiful tracks (streaks) in the sky. These streaks can appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, or last much longer. On rare occasions the debris originates from asteroids, as in the case of the Geminid meteor shower, shown in this image, picturing many streaks of debris captured in the sky of China in 2017. Due to relative motions and perspective, the shower appears to come from one single point, known as the radiant point, beautifully pictured in this image. This is similar to driving in a car on a rainy day without any wind, looking out the front window it seems that the rain is coming directly towards the window, when in fact the rain is falling vertically downwards.
Credit: Dai Jianfeng/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons
Related Activities
Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites
astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website) Description: Unveiling the mystery of "shooting stars": meteors, meteorites and meteroids
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons
Tags:
Geology
Age Ranges:
6-8
, 8-10
, 10-12
, 12-14
Education Level:
Middle School
, Primary
Areas of Learning:
Interactive Lecture
Costs:
Low Cost
Duration:
1 hour 30 mins
Group Size:
Group
Skills:
Analysing and interpreting data
, Asking questions
, Communicating information
, Engaging in argument from evidence
