What is a Meteorite?

What is a Meteorite?

• A. A meteoroid that does not completely burn up in the atmosphere and strikes the surface of a moon or planet
• B. A meteoroid that burns up in the atmosphere
• C. A meteor that burns up completely
• D. A fragment of a planet

Answer: (A)

A meteorite is the piece of rock that survives its fiery fall through a planet’s atmosphere and lands on the surface of that planet or moon. Think of it in stages: a meteoroid is a small rock in space; when it hits the atmosphere and burns up, we see a meteor (the bright streak). If any part makes it to the ground, that surviving fragment is a meteorite. So the description matches the idea of a meteoroid that does not completely burn up and strikes the surface. The other descriptions refer to the burning-up stage (a meteor) or to origin rather than the event of reaching the surface; meteorites can come from asteroids or planetary bodies, but the key feature is surviving atmospheric entry and hitting the surface.

A meteorite is the piece of rock that survives its fiery fall through a planet’s atmosphere and lands on the surface of that planet or moon. Think of it in stages: a meteoroid is a small rock in space; when it hits the atmosphere and burns up, we see a meteor (the bright streak). If any part makes it to the ground, that surviving fragment is a meteorite. So the description matches the idea of a meteoroid that does not completely burn up and strikes the surface. The other descriptions refer to the burning-up stage (a meteor) or to origin rather than the event of reaching the surface; meteorites can come from asteroids or planetary bodies, but the key feature is surviving atmospheric entry and hitting the surface.