Meteoroids are lumps or particles of rock or iron that orbit the sun, just like planets, asteroids, and comets do. Some meteoroids are rocky, while others are metallic or combinations of rock and metal. Meteoroids are the same as asteroids, just much smaller.
Meteoroids are also related to meteors ...
Meteoroids are lumps or particles of rock or iron that orbit the sun, just like planets, asteroids, and comets do. Some meteoroids are rocky, while others are metallic or combinations of rock and metal. Meteoroids are the same as asteroids, just much smaller.
Meteoroids are also related to meteors and meteorites. When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) they come in at high speed. Many burn up, and the fireballs or "shooting stars" are called meteors.
Sometimes a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground. In that case, it's called a meteorite.
Meteoroids Are Common throughout Our Solar System
Meteoroids, especially the tiny particles called micrometeoroids, are extremely common throughout the solar system. They orbit the sun among the rocky inner planets, as well as the "gas giants" that make up the outer planets. Meteoroids are even found on the very edge of the solar system, in regions called the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud.
Different meteoroids travel around the sun at different speeds and in different orbits. The fastest meteoroids travel through the solar system at a speed of around 42 kilometers (26 miles) per second.
Many meteoroids are formed from the collision of asteroids, which orbit the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter in a region called the asteroid belt. As asteroids smash into each other, they produce crumbly debris—meteoroids. The force of the asteroid collision can throw the meteoroid debris—and sometimes the asteroids themselves—out of their regular orbit. This can put the meteoroids on a collision course with a planet or moon.
Comet's Dusty Tails include Meteoroids and Micrometeoroids
Other meteoroids are the debris that comets shed as they travel through space. As a comet approaches the sun, the "dirty snowball" of ice at the comet's nucleus, or center, sheds gas and dust. The dusty tail may contain hundreds or even thousands of meteoroids and micrometeoroids. Meteoroids shed by a comet usually orbit together in a formation called a meteoroid stream.
A very small percentage of meteoroids are rocky pieces that break off from the moon and Mars after asteroids or other meteoroids impact their surfaces. Meteoroid impacts are probably the largest contributor to "space weathering." Space weathering describes the processes that act upon a space object that doesn't have an airy atmosphere. Asteroids, many moons, or the planets Mars and Mercury are examples of such space objects. Meteoroids crash into these bodies. When they do so they create craters and throw space dust (more meteoroids) back into the solar system.
Most meteoroids are made of silicon and oxygen (minerals called silicates) and heavier metals like nickel and iron. Iron and nickel-iron meteoroids are very massive and dense. Stony meteoroids are lighter and more fragile.
Assessing the Impact
Meteoroids are generally as harmless as any other space object. They're specks of dust floating
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Added: Feb 27, 2025
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Slide Content
METEOROIDS are also fragments of rocks with composition the same to that of the terrestrial planets. are any space rocks with diameter smaller than 100 meters.
Meteor i s the glowing meteoroid entering the earth’s atmosphere. is also called “shooting star” .