Meteor vs. Meteorite

Difference between Meteor and Meteorite

Meteors and Meteorites are celestial objects which enter the earth’s atmosphere when they fall out of their rotational path around the sun. These can be made of sand like substance or may be debris created because of the clash between two asteroids. Both of these have been subject of curiosity because they are believed to carry celestial information with them.

Meteors are the wishing stars that you see in the sky. When a meteoroid enters earth’s atmosphere with high speed it starts burning because of friction. This produces flash of light. We can see these in the night but some of them are so small that we cannot even notice them. Meteors are commonly known as shooting starts or falling stars.

Meteorite is a meteoroid which passes through the atmosphere of the earth and touches the surface of the earth. These can be of stone, iron or stone-iron and these are mostly named on the basis of the place where they fall.

You can see meteor shower when too many of these meteorites enter earth’s atmosphere and get burnt.

Here are some main differences between them to make the understanding a little better:

  1. Meteors do not touch the surface of the earth and are destroyed in the atmosphere while Meteorites fall on earth’s surface.
  2. Meteors have a flash of light when they fall while meteorites do not.
  3. Some of the meteoroids are meteorites and some of the meteorites are meteors.