Characteristics of a Meteor – A meteor is a celestial body that originates from asteroid fragments, comet tails, or fragments of other celestial bodies which are caused by the influence of the earth’s gravity, which makes the celestial body fragments shoot up to the earth and cause damage due to falling meteors. .
This celestial body passes by Earth because it also orbits the Sun. This celestial body burns out with a heat of 1,650 degrees Celsius when it enters the atmosphere. This burning process that the human eye sees as a falling meteor.
Meteors are generally only the size of a grain of sand, and almost all of them disintegrate before reaching the Earth’s surface. The debris that reaches the Earth’s surface is called a meteorite. Meteor showers generally occur when the Earth crosses near the orbit of a comet and passes through its debris. The Meteor Data Center has recorded about 600 suspected cases of meteor showers, of which about 100 have been confirmed.
To find out more about meteors, in the following we will explain in full about the meaning of meteors, their characteristics, types, and examples of meteors along with their explanations.
Meaning of Meteors
Meteors are the appearance of meteoroids falling into the earth’s atmosphere called shooting stars. A meteor is a flake or fragment of a celestial body that enters the earth’s atmosphere which causes friction between the meteor’s surface and the air at high speed. This friction causes glowing flames and rays or light from a distance which is commonly referred to as a shooting star phenomenon.
Meteor is not only a celestial body that falls to earth, but also an appearance of the path when it enters the earth’s atmosphere. The occurrence of this appearance is caused by the heat generated from the ram pressure. Ram pressure is the pressure generated by an object moving at supersonic speed in a fluid medium (gas or liquid). The ram pressure produces a large propagation force on those falling objects, i.e. meteoroids.
The ram pressure causes the path of the meteoroid to fall and it will appear to glow as it falls. In the case of a high-speed meteoroid falling into the atmosphere and producing enormous air pressure in the front of the meteoroid. Then, this pressure will heat the air until it finally heats up the meteoroids which later burn meteoroids and are known as shooting stars.
Meteorites range in size from a grain of sand to one meter. Meteorites can move at speeds of 72 hours/s and can counteract the movement of the earth. When a meteorite collides with a planet’s atmosphere it turns into a meteor. The flash of fire that meteors produce when they burn in the atmosphere has a brighter light than Venus, this is why meteors are often called shooting stars.
Every day it is estimated that more than 43,500 kg of meteorotic material falls to earth and there are already millions of meteors that enter the earth’s atmosphere but most of them burn up before reaching the surface. If a meteor enters the atmosphere and falls to the surface of which planet it is called a meteorite. Meteorites that fall produce explosions, ancient people believed that it was a star that fell from the sky.
Meteors Characteristics
The characteristics of a Meteor are that it shines brightly like a shooting star in a small size, like a shooting star in a small size. When meteors that fall and enter the atmosphere are not used up and reach the earth’s surface, then objects that reach the earth are called meteorites.
The proper sequence is before meteors, celestial bodies smaller than asteroids are called Meteoroids. After entering the Earth’s atmosphere is called a Meteor. When the meteoroid atmosphere does not run out and reaches the earth’s surface, it is called a meteorite.
Types of Meteors
Meteors are celestial bodies that have various types. Each type of meteor has a certain category. Here are some types of meteors, including:
1. Based on the Composition
Based on its composition, meteors are divided into three types, namely Iron Meteorites, Stony Meteorites, and Mixed Iron and Stony Meteorites. Here’s the explanation:
a. Iron Meteorite
Features Iron meteorites are meteorites where most of the material comes from iron. Iron meteorites have been found as much as 4.8% of all meteorites ever found in the world. Iron meteorites are the most massive meteorites ever found. The mineral composition is heavy because it contains iron and nickel. That is what causes these meteors to remain intact when they fall to earth. The largest iron meteorite ever found is the Namibian Hoba meteorite.
Iron meteorites originate from the cores of planets and asteroids. This means, he can help reveal the formation of the solar system which has been a mystery. Some iron meteorites contain minerals never found on Earth.
b. Stony meteorite
The characteristics of a Stony Meteorite are meteors composed of rocks. Stony meteorites are found as much as 94% of all meteorites ever found in the world. Of all meteorites, 93% of them are stony meteorites. There are two main types of stony meteorites – chondrites and achondrites – which differ from each other both physically and chemically. Chondrules are formed from molten silicate rocks, and one of the important types of chondrites is carbonaceous chondrite. This type of meteorite contains carbon, water and other volatile matter and has a slightly darker color.
Achondrites have no chondrules and no visible metal or metal sulfides are seen. Appearance is also similar to rocks on the surface of the moon and terrestrial planets. The age of the rocks is about 4.5 billion years, the younger rocks are thought to have come from material ejected from the surface of Mars.
c. Meteorite Mixed Iron and Stony
The characteristics of a mixed iron and stony meteorite are a mixture of types and are still a rare type, because only 1.2% of all meteorites have ever been found in the world. Meteorites of this type contain rock and iron in nearly equal proportions.
The most likely scenario for the formation of this type of meteorite is for them to form in an area where a cold solid object encounters. In this area there is also a separation between metals with high densities and rocks that have lower densities. One type of meteorite, the mesosiderites, contains minerals that are stable at pressures below 3kbar. This shows that this type of meteorite indirectly originated from a massive object.
2. Based on Origin
Based on their origin, meteorites are divided into three, namely Asteroidal / Planetary Meteors, Comet Meteors and Parabolic Meteors. Here’s the explanation:
a. Asteroidal/planetary meteors
Characteristics Asteroidal/planetary meteors are meteorites that come from fragments of asteroids or planets that explode or destroy. Asteroids or planets that break apart will turn into smaller pieces, so they are called meteorites.
b. Comedy Meteor
The characteristics of the Comet Meteor are debris from comets containing gas and other solid components.
c. Parabolic meteors
The characteristics of a parabolic meteor are fragments of objects from outer space, but it is not known exactly what type of object they are.
3. Based on the Meteor Shower
Based on the meteor shower, meteors are divided into four, namely the Orionid Meteor Shower, Perseid Meteor Shower, Geminids Meteor Shower and Quadrantid Meteor Shower. Here’s the explanation:
a. Orionid Meteor Shower
The Orionid meteor shower is a shower that occurs every year, usually in October. The process of the Orionid meteor shower can be seen clearly and usually the meteors are yellow and green.
b. Perseid Meteor Shower
The Perseid meteor shower is a rain that occurs over the constellation Perseus and usually occurs when the earth passes through a meteor stream called the Perseid cloud. Based on observations made since 2 centuries ago, the Perseid meteor shower occurs in the middle of July to August every year. Perseid meteors can be seen clearly in the northern hemisphere on summer nights when the sky looks clear.
c. Geminids Meteor Shower
The Geminids meteor shower is a meteor shower caused by meteors originating from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Based on observations made 1.5 centuries ago, the Geminids meteor shower occurs at the end of the year, in December to be precise.
d. Quadrantid Meteor Shower
The Quadrantid meteor shower is a meteor shower that originates in the Bootes Constlation. Based on the observations made, the quadrantid meteor shower occurs in January, but this observation is more difficult because it only lasts for a matter of hours.
Meteor Examples
Here are some examples of meteors, including:
1. Stony
Stony is a type of rock meteor that has many different varieties. Stony meteors are divided into three sub-classifications, namely:
- Chondrites contain chondrules.
- Carbonate chondrites contain chondrules with volatile minerals.
- Achondrites do not contain chondroles
Counting from the total number, there are about 94% of meteor types found.
2. Iron
Iron is a meteorite with an alloy composition of iron, nickel and crystals. Many scientists believe that this meteor is the same as the outer core of the earth. These iron meteors account for about 4.8% of the number of meteors ever found.
3. Stony and Iron
Stony and Iron are examples of meteors containing rocks and iron. This type of meteor is very rare to find, and there are only about 1.2% of the number of meteors found.
How Is An Object Recognized As A Meteorite?
An object that falls on Earth will not be protected from the effects of the weather. As a result, the surface of the object will experience erosion so that in the end it is difficult to distinguish it from the surrounding rocks. However, on the other hand, large chunks of iron are not often found on the Earth’s surface. If a dense and dense iron object with a dark appearance is found, you can be sure that the object is a chunk of meteorite.
In addition, changes due to weather influences on iron objects will not be the same as ordinary rocks and they will retain their original condition over a longer period of time. The factors used to identify a meteor are that the object can maintain its original appearance and condition as far as possible and can survive in its environment.
There are two types of areas where this meteorite finds is in the desert and Antarctica. In the desert, the process of change due to weather is slow, so the meteorite will be able to maintain its initial state for a long time. Meanwhile in Antarctica, which has a thick layer of ice (about several km), silicate or iron objects near the surface are certainly meteorites.
The rocks that fall to Earth come from various places in the Solar System and they are one of the important sources of information to get a better picture of the state and what is in the parent object.
Information about the parent object of the meteorite is obtained by analyzing the oxygen isotopes in the minerals present in the meteorite. Some minerals can only form at high pressure, while some are unstable at high pressure. Through mineral information, it can be known where and approximately under the pressure conditions how a meteorite is formed.
One way minerals form at high pressure is when meteorites experience shock from impact. Usually the condition of a meteorite resulting from a collision is easy to recognize because it leaves marks on the rock as a result of the collision.
In terms of finds, meteorites are divided into two groups, namely falls and finds. The falls group is a group of meteorites that appear to fall and are found shortly after their fall on the Earth’s surface. While the finds group is a group of objects found and identified as meteorites, which have fallen on Earth tens, hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
Iron meteorites are much more common in the finds group. For planetary researchers, the most valuable meteorites are the falls which are found immediately after falling to Earth, because natural contamination due to weather and the environment is still very minimal.
Why Meteor Can Fall to Earth?
In accordance with the above understanding, we know that meteoroids move around the Sun like planets. These meteoroids are scattered in our solar system between the planets up to the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. If the Earth’s orbit meets the meteoroid’s orbit, then the meteoroid can enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
This is what causes meteors to fall to Earth. Meteors can also fall in large numbers or we are familiar with meteor showers. Especially for meteor showers, they usually occur when the Earth’s orbit meets the comet’s orbit. Comets will leave behind meteors in large numbers. This condition will cause a meteor shower.
How Often Do Meteors Fall to Earth?
Reporting from Space, it is difficult to calculate how often meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The number is very large and there is no exact count. However, you don’t need to worry because most meteors have burned up in the atmosphere and are not harmful to humans. In addition, most of the meteorites that reach the Earth’s surface are only rocks less than half a kilogram in size.
Stones that small rarely cause casualties or extensive damage. However, because the meteorite travels at over 322 kilometers per hour, it can damage or damage the car or house it hits. The more real danger comes from shock waves or shock waves. For example the Chelyabinsk meteor that entered Earth’s atmosphere in February 2013 over the Russian sky.
This meteor is the size of a 6-storey building and broke up about 24 kilometers above the ground. The breakup of the meteor caused a shockwave equivalent in strength to the detonation of a 500 kiloton bomb. This incident left 1,600 people injured.
Thus the article about Meteor characteristics and explanations. Hopefully this article can be useful and add to your insight about the subject of Natural Sciences.
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