AST101H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Meteoroid, Solar Transition Region, Solar Wind
Document Summary
Glowing trail of hot gas and vaporized debris left by a solid object heated by friction as it moves through earth"s atmosphere at extremely high speeds. The solid body of a meteor in space before it reaches the atmosphere. Meteoroids heat up on entering the atmosphere because of collisions with atmospheric molecules and atoms. These collisions convert some of the bodies energy of motion into heat. In a matter of seconds, the outer layer of the meteor reaches thousands of degrees kelvin and glows. Reentry speeds are usually 10-30 km/s, causing collisions with air molecules to be extremely violent and tear atoms off the body, vaporizing surface layer. This trail of hot, evaporated matter and atmospheric gas emits light, making the glow we see as a shooting star. Astronomers estimate amounts of hundreds of tons of material bombard earth daily. The dawn side of our planet moves into meteoric debris in space,
