Meteors and Meteorites

Meteor Little chunks of rock and debris in space are called meteoroids. They become meteors when they fall through a planet's atmosphere. This causes a bright trail as they are heated by friction from the atmosphere. This is why they are sometimes called "shooting stars". Meteors that survive the journey and hit the ground are called meteorites.

Go through the timeline below to learn more about asteriods.

Viewing Meteor Showers
Major Meteor Streams	Peak Night (may vary by +/-1 day)	Time to Watch* (24 hour clock)	Maximum Rate (per hour)**	Parent Body (Asteroid or Comet)
Quadrantids	January 3-4	23:00 to dawn	60-200	(196256) 2003 EH1
Lyrids	April 21-22	21:30 to dawn	10-15 typical	Comet C/1861 G1
Eta Aquarids	May 5-6	01:30 to dawn	40-85	Comet 1P/Halley
Delta Aquarids	July 27-28	21:30 to dawn	15-20	Unknown sungrazing comet
Perseids	August 11-12	dusk to dawn	60-100	Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle
Orionids	October 20-21	22:00 to dawn	25	Comet 1P/Halley
Leonids	November 17-18	23:30 to dawn	10-15	Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
Geminids	December 13-14	19:00 to dawn	60-120	(3200) Phaethon

For observers in the northern hemisphere
** Under perfect conditions
Meteorites can be very small and unnoticeable on Earth or larger and leave large craters. The images below show you a size comparison.

Meteorites
Henbury Meteorite	Hoba Meteorite

Impact Craters

Impact craters are created from meteorites hitting Earth. Some meteorites are so small, that they leave very little evidence that they hit the ground. However, some are so large that they have become national parks! Check out some of the most famous ones below!

Impact Craters
Crater Name	Impact Date	Location	Information
Vredefort Crater	Estimated 2 billion years ago	South Africa	Estimated radius: 118 miles UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005
Sudbury Basin	Estimated 1.8 billion years ago	Ontario, Canada	Estimated diameter 81 miles
Acraman Crater	Estimated 580 million years ago	South Australia	Present day location of Lake Acraman Estimated diameter of 56 miles
Woodleigh Crater	Estimated 364 million years ago	Western Australia	Not viewable from the surface Estimated diameter 25 miles
Manicouagan Crater	Estimated 215 million years ago	Quebec, Canada	Present day Lake Manicouagan Estimated diameter 62 miles
Morokweng Crater	Estimated 145 million years ago	North West, South Africa	Located near Kalahari Desert and contains fossilized meteorite fragments
Kara Crater	Estimated 70.3 million years ago	Nenetsia, Russia	Heavily eroded
Chicxulub Crater	Estimated 65 million years ago	Yucatán, Mexico	Thought to have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs Estimated diameter 186 miles
Popigai Crater	Estimated 35.7 million years ago	Siberia, Russia	Contains trillions of carats of diamonds Known as impact diamonds
Chesapeake Bay Crater	Estimated 35 million years ago	Virginia, United States	Discovered in 1980's Estimated diameter 53 miles

Here is an image showing where the Chesapeake Bay Crater is located!

Virginia meteor impact site

Review

Use the review simulations below to help you study for the upcoming module test.

Use the review simulation below to help you study for the upcoming module test.

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