Astro*Dictionary
by Michael Erlewine

2 articles for
"Meteor"

Meteor [Astro*Index]

A meteor or "shooting star" is the luminous trail, or streak of light, across the night sky caused by a meteoroid, or chunk of rock or metal entering our atmosphere at high speed and burning up.

 

See also: ♦ Meteoroid ♦ Meteorite

 

Meteor Shower [Astro*Index]

A group of meteors that appears at a relatively fixed time of year and seems to originate from a fixed point in the heavens known as a radiant. These showers occur as the Earth sweeps through a portion of its orbit where great concentrations of dust and debris lie in space.

 

See also: ♦ Meteoroid ♦ Meteorite ♦ Radiant