Definition of meteoroid Meteoroid

me•te•or•oid

We found 5 definitions of meteoroid from 5 different sources.

What does meteoroid mean?

Noun Plural: meteoroids
meteoroid - (astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere
		meteor
		estraterrestrial body, extraterrestrial object a natural object existing outside the earth and outside the earth's atmosphere
		astronomy, uranology the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole
		meteorite stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteoroid that has reached the earth's surface

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meteoroid (Noun)
A relatively small sand- to boulder-sized fragment of debris in a solar system that produces a meteor when it hits the atmosphere.

meteoroid (n.)
A small body moving through space, or revolving about the sun, which on entering the earth's atmosphere would be deflagrated and appear as a meteor.

A meteoroid is what you see when a space rock, called a meteoroid is falling to Earth. It is often known as a shooting star or falling star and can be a bright light in the night sky, though most are faint. If it hits the ground, it is then called a "meteorite" and it will leave a hole in the ground called a crater. Meteoroids may range in size from large pieces of rock to tiny dust particles floating in space that did not form planets. Once the meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere and begin to heat up break apart, they are known as meteors. Meteors are distinct from comets or asteroids, but some, especially those associated with showers, are dust particles that were ejected from comets.

There are several types of meteorites including, stony, carbonaceous chondrites, and iron-nickel. Stony meteorites are named because they are largely made up of stone-like mineral material, carbonaceous chondrites have a high carbon content and iron-nickel meteorites are mostly iron often with significant nickel as well.