This web page contains meteoroid facts for kids and is the perfect resource for anyone of any age researching meteoroids. We’re going to provide you with the latest and most accurate facts about meteoroids from scientific sources. Alongside meteoroid facts, you’ll get to see some jaw dropping pictures of meteoroids and more resources to study meteoroids.
The meteoroid facts below will help you understand what a meteoroid is, how big meteoroids are, the different between a meteoroid, meteor and meteorites, what are some past historic meteoroids and other helpful meteoroid facts. We hope the below facts about meteoroids are helpful and make researching meteoroids fun.
If any of the below meteoroid facts are inaccurate or out of date, please contact us to let us know.
16 Meteoroid Facts for Kids
- A meteoroid is a small astronomical body in outer space that is made out rock or metallic materials.
- As of April 2017, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines an astronomical body a meteoroid if it has a diameter between 0.003 centimeter and 3.28 feet.
- A large majority of the meteoroids in our Solar System are fragments of asteroids and comets.
- Meteoroids are also created from impact debris that gets injected into space. An example of how impact debris can be created is by an asteroid striking a planet or natural satellite (moon).
- The fastest meteoroids can travel up to 94,000 miles per hour.
- Millions of meteoroids impact the Earth’s atmosphere every day.
- A meteor (falling star or shooting star) is a meteoroid that has entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
- A meteor will either deflect off the Earth’s atmosphere and go back into space, burn up completely or impact the surface and become a meteorite.
- A meteor will become visible to the naked eye between 250,000 and 390,000 feet above the Earth’s surface.
- The largest meteor air burst was the Tunguska event. A meteor exploded near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia on June 30th, 1908. The explosion released the energy equivalent to 10 to 15 megatons of TNT.
- The Chelyabinsk meteor exploded over Russia on February 15th, 2013. It released energy equivalent to 26 to 33 times the energy of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
- A meteor shower is when multiple meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere at the same time and in the same area, appearing to be coming from the same point of the night sky.
- The Orionid meteor shower, commonly just called the Orionids, is a popular annual meteor shower that is created from the debris of Halley’s Comet.
- A meteorite is a meteoroid that survives entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and impacts the surface.
- There are three common types of meteorites, and they are stony, stony-iron and iron.
- The largest intact meteorite is Hoba, is an iron meteorite that weighs over 132,000 pounds.
Meteoroid Pictures
Additional Resources to Research Meteoroids
- Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites – A great web page that gives tons of information about meteoroids, meteors and meteorites.
- Meteoroid – Discover some awesome facts about meteoroids on the National Geographic Website.
- Asteroids vs. Meteorites – Learn about the differences between asteroids and meteorites on the Phys.org website.
- Overview of Meteoroids – A nice web page that gives you a solid overview of meteoroids.