A meteoroid is a particle or rock traveling
through space. The size of a meteoroid can range from microscopic to many meters across.
A meteor is a streak of light seen in the night sky caused by a
meteoroid entering the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizing in a flash of light. The light is produced by the heat of friction
between the meteoroid and the atmosphere. The average size meteoroid, which causes the meteors that we see at night, is probably
no larger than a grain of sand. Speeds can be as great as 50,000 miles per hour (80,000 kilometers-per-hour) or more.
A meteorite is a meteoroid that has struck the Earth. On impact,
large meteoroids leave craters and may bury themselves deep underground. Meteorites of any size can be quite valuable
