noun
1. Astronomy. Also called a minor planet, any of the thousands of small bodies of from 480 miles (775 km) to less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter that revolve about the sun in orbits lying mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter.
meteoroid [mee-tee-ohr-ohyd]
noun
1. Astronomy. Any of the small bodies, often remnants of comets, traveling through space: when such a body enters the earth's atmosphere it is heated to luminosity and becomes a meteor.
meteor [mee-tee-ohr]
noun
1. Astronomy. A meteoroid that has entered earth's atmosphere and is falling through the sky.
2. Astronomy. The fiery streak caused by a meteor falling through earth's atmosphere, also called a shooting star.
meteorite [mee-tee-ohr-ahyt]
noun
1. A mass of metal or rock that has reached earth from space; a fallen meteoroid.
EX. An asteroid is an asteroid as long as it lies between Mars & Jupiter (or in other asteroid belts), but becomes a meteoroid once it leaves a fixed orbit, then becomes a meteor/s if it enters Earth's atmosphere and finally become meteorite/s once it reaches Earth's surface. Thanks, Obama.
