Meteors Fall to the Earth's Surface

There is a type of celestial fireworks that has been witnessed by humans since the dawn of their existence. They are called meteors, or more commonly, shooting stars. A meteor is the flash of light left by a falling meteorite, which hits the ground to end its flight. Whenever you observe a shooting star piercing rapidly through the black night sky, you are most likely witnessing the final act in the existence of an extremely small of chunk of debris spewed from the nucleus of a comet. The flash of light is created by air molecules which are set aglow as the meteoroid slams into our protective atmosphere. Speeds range between 7 and 45 miles per second. If the air is unable to stop or consume the meteoroid completely, a piece of it will reach the Earth's surface, now to be known as a meteorite. Meteorites most likely originate from the asteroid belt as rock or ice-rock fragments formed through the collisions of asteroids and comets. Meteoroids are these same objects, plus cometary dust, which can be found in space orbiting the sun. Meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite are three of the most butchered words in astronomy. Part of the problem stems from a lack of commitment by the professional community. Astronomers, most of whom are educators, seem to use the words "meteor" and "meteorite" interchangeably. The other problem with these terms, may stem from Meteor Crater, a nearly one mile in diameter extraterrestrial hole in the Earth just off I-40 west of Winslow, Arizona. It was formed by a 100 yard nickel-iron METEORITE which struck our planet about 49,000 years ago. Had this event occurred in modern times, it is believed that the "dead zone" for humans would have reached to a radius of 40 miles from the center of impact. Make no mistake; Meteor Crater is very spectacular, and well worth the visit, but it was made by a meteorite.