Q: What is a meteor?
A: A meteor can be interplanetary dust, rock, or debris as it
passes through
our atmosphere and is heated to incandescence.
Meteors are often called shooting stars.
Q: What is a meteorite?
A: A meteorite is a meteor that actually falls to the ground. Most
meteors burn up and never make it to the ground.
Q: What is a meteoroid?
A: A meteoroid is the dust, rock, or debris still in space.
It could be a chunk of an asteroid or comet.
Q: What is a comet?
A: A comet is a very old body of ice mixed with rock and
organic material.
Q: What is an asteroid?
A: An asteroid is an irregularly shaped object made of
either iron-rich silicates,
carbon-containing materials, or metals like iron and nickel.
Q: Is the Earth in danger of being hit with an object like the
one that caused the Chicxulub impact in the Yucatan Peninsula?
A: The Earth is getting hit with objects every day. Most of these
objects are the size of dust particles, although some are somewhat
larger. Virtually all burn up in the atmosphere.
There is a very low probability that an object like the
one that caused the Chicxulub crater will strike the Earth again. If a
large celestial body is found that could eventually threaten the
planet, it is added to a catalog and a watch is maintained on
it.
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Fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter in 1994.
No impact craters were formed because Jupiter is a mostly gaseous planet.
Maps of impact craters show that they are clustered around North
America, Europe, and Australia. This is only because those continents
have been more thoroughly searched.
Impact craters can be found on other planetary bodies such as
the Moon, Mercury, Mars, and many of the moons of the planets of
the outer solar system.
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