EARTH SCIENCE

CHAPTER I
Astronomy
LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION TO ASTRONOMY
History of Astronomy
Place
Year

Southern
England

1075 BC
2800 BC

Astronomical Contributions / Events

STONEHENGE contains more

than
a
dozen
astrological
alignments
-

perhaps

an

astrological

observatory
- used as calendar

America

CARACOL TEMPLE aligned

where Venus rose and set

Asia

Egypt

ARTIFACTS sketches on bones

and stones such as phases of the
moon

2700 BC

COFFIN LIDS divided the stars

of the equatorial belt into 36
groups ( 365 days + 5 days = 36
ten-day period)

Babylon

2000 BC

LUNAR MONTH measurement

of time
1 Babylonian Year = 12 months
(stars of the zodiac, the 12
constellation / 30 days each)
1 week = 7 days named after
moon,
sun & 5 planets
1 day = 24 hours
1 hour = 60 minutes
1 minute = 60 seconds

Mesopotam
ia

2000 BC

Venus returned to the same position 5 times in 8 years

1000 BC

Observations
became
systematically recorded

700 BC

relatively

accurate

and

Calculations of revolution of the visible planets

Accurate predictions of astronomical events like lunar
eclipse

400 BC

Developed an algebraic method of analysing the

periodic phenomena in the sky but they did not use
geometrical methods to interpret their observations

Ancient astronomical information was introduced by Greek astronomy based on the

contributions of philosophers.
Philisopher

Year

Astronomical Contributions / Statements

625 547 BC

Thal
es of Miletus

Universe is rational and man can understand it.

The universe is not unknowable.

He had correct prediction of solar eclipse.

580 500 BC

Universe is divided into 3 parts OLYMPUS,

COSMOS, URANUS / EARTH.

Pyth
agoras

Earth is a sphere.

Stars, sun, 5 visible planets and moon are carried

by rotating sphere.

428 322 BC

Universe is essentially mathematical and reality is

an optical illusion.

Pl
ato

He adopted Pythagoras ideas and added that

those astronomical bodies were spherical in
shape.
The rotating spheres are real physical bodies not
384 322 BC

Aristotle

just geometrical constructions.

The universe is finite in size and divided into 2

parts EARTH which is the center of the

universe and HEAVEN.

There are four terrestrial elements EARTH,

WATER, FIRE and QUINTESSENCE, the purer
elements that are found in heaven.
Astronomical Instruments
An important part of the science of astronomy is the use of astronomical
instruments. An astronomical instrument generally refers to a type of equipment
used for the study, observation, or measurement of celestial objects.
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by
collecting electromagnetic radiation (such as visible light). The first known practical
telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century,
using glass lenses.
The word "telescope" (from the Greek tele "far" and skopein "to look or see";
teleskopos "far-seeing") was coined in 1611 by the Greek mathematician Giovanni
Demisiani for one of Galileo Galilei's instruments.
Optical Telescope
An optical telescope gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the
electromagnetic spectrum (although some work in the infrared and ultraviolet). It
increases the apparent angular size of distant objects as well as their apparent
brightness. There are three main optical types:

The reflecting telescope

which
uses
an
arrangement of mirrors to
form an image.

Radio Telescope

The refracting telescope

which uses lenses to form
an image.

The
catdioptric
telescope which uses
mirrors combined with
lenses to form an image

Radio telescopes are directional radio antennas used for radio astronomy. The
dishes are sometimes constructed of a conductive wire mesh whose openings are
smaller than the wavelength being observed.
Space Telescopes
Space telescopes are placed above the atmosphere that can receive much
sharper images. These can receive infra-red, ultra-violet and X-ray energy that
cannot be received on Earth because of the atmosphere.
An observatory is a building specially designed to house
telescope. It is built high up on mountain tops where it is
above most of the pollution, dust and waste vapour in the
atmosphere.
A rocket is a spacecraft that obtains thrust from a rocket
engine. It lifts satellites, space probes and astronauts. A
rocket propelled upwards by hot exhaust gases streaming from nozzles at the tail.
These gases are the result by burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and fuel (such as
liquid hydrogen) inside the combustion chamber. Carrying its own oxygen supply
enables the rocket engine to function in the airless vacuum of space. There are two
types of rockets.
Space Probes
Fly-bys are space probes lifted into space by rockets, which are computercontrolled robots packed with scientific instruments. It sent to fly by a planet or
even orbit around it, sending data and images back to the earth. After they have
completed their planned missions, some probes continue on into space.
A lander is a spacecraft which descends toward and comes to rest on the surface of
an astronomical body. It is first a re-entry vehicle.
A rover (or sometimes planetary rover) is a space exploration vehicle designed to
move across the surface of a planet or other celestial body. Some rovers have been
designed to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been
partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers usually arrive at the planetary surface
on a lander-style spacecraft.

Mariner 2 was the first

successful
fly-by
mission
outside the Earth- moon
system which passed Venus

Lunar rover

Mission to Mars Mars

Global Surveyor

Space Station is a large space craft designed to stay permanently in orbit. Crews
live and work here for several months at a time.
International Space Station
different countries work together.

where

scientists

from

Space Travels and Space Explorations

ASTRONAUTS came from two Greek words astron and nautes meaning star
voyager. These are people who fly on American space missions.
COSMONAUT means voyager into the cosmos. These are Russian who fly into the
space.
Date

Space Craft

Astronomer / Animal

3 Nov 1957

Sputnik 2

LAIKA, a Russian dog that was the first living

creature in space. Laika died in space

Aug 1960

Koralb Sputnik 2

BELKA and STRELKA, 2 Russian dogs that

were the fiert creatures to return to Earth
after orbiting it for 24 hours.

April 1961

Vostok 1

YURI GAGARIN is the worlds first spaceman

who was a Russian.

1962

Mercury
Capsule

1971

Apollo 14

Space

JOHN GLENN, an American who first to orbit

the Earth.
ALAN AHEPARD played golf on the moon.

LESSON 2: THE UNIVERSE

GALAXY is an enormous spinning cloud of gas and they continue to spin, the speed
of rotation affects their shapes. LARGE GALAXY may have billions of stars. SMALL
GALAXY may have a few hundred thousand-but not so big that it takes light
thousands of years to cross.
BASIC TYPES OF GALAXIES
1. ELLIPTICAL GALAXY. This ranges from

3. BARRED-SPIRAL GALAXY. It is like the

ball shaped to
egg-shaped. It
contains mainly
old stars. And it
is
the
most
common
type
of galaxy

spiral galaxies,
but the nucleus
is elongated into
a bar. Its spiral
arms
extend
from the ends of
the bar.

2.
SPIRAL
GALAXY. This is
disc-shaped
galaxy.
Most
materials are
in the spiral
arms
where
new stars are
formed.
The
old stars are in

4. IRREGULAR
GALAXY.
It
does not fit
any
known
pattern. It is
the
rarest
type. Most of
the stars here
are young stats.

the nucleus.

CLUSTER is group of a few to a thousand galaxies. Its average distance between

galaxies in clusters is about 10 galaxy diameter. It is just small part of a giant
supercluster. SUPERCLUSTER tends to be flattened into discs or sheets, at elongated
into filaments. Its diameter is about 100 million ly.
LOCAL GROUP is our own group. Its diameter is about 5 million ly. It contains about
30 galaxies. And the largest galaxies in the local cluster are ANDROMEDA (M31),
TRIANGULUM (M33) and our MILKY WAY GALAXY.
VIRGO CLUSTER-60 million ly away, major cluster to ours
MILKY WAY GALAXY is a spiral galaxy. Its nucleus is the brightest region and
about 6 000 ly across. Nucleus has the old stars surrounded by a halo of even older
stars. All the young stars, like the sun, are located in the spiralarms. Spiral arms
contain most of the galaxy gas and dust and this is where star forming regions are

formed. ORION ARM/SOLAR ARM is where the solar

system is situated about 2/3 from the galaxy center,
at the edge of a spiral arm.
Milky Way Galaxy rotates and 1 complete revolution
is 220 million years COSMIC
YEAR.
It takes 1000 000 ly to travel
from the edge to edge. All
stars we see as a great milky
river of star across the clear
night sky are in the Milky
Way.
The side view of Milky Way Galaxy looks like a giant lens with flattened edges and a
bright central nucleus. Around the nucleus is a roughly spherical halo.
STAR is enormous spinning ball of gas. Its two main gases
are H and He, held together by gravity at the core and
they are very densely packed. Within the core, immense
amounts of energy are produced. All the chemical
elements heavier than H, He and Li were made by nuclear
reactions inside stars.
1 solar mass (mass of the sun) is used as standard for
measuring the mass of a star.
STRUCTURES OF STAR
1.
Energy
is
released
at
the
SURFACE
as
2. Temperature and pressure increase towards and the CORE.
3. Energy is produced by nuclear reactions in the CORE.

light

and

heat.

NUCLEAR FUSION is a process by which star produced energy. Within the core, an H
nucleus proton collide and fuse to form first DEUTERIUM, a heavy H and forms He.
During fusion, energy is given off. This reaction, which found in most stars, is also
called PROTON PROTON CHAIN REACTION.

LIFE CYCLE OF STARS

Stars follow a life cycle that last millions and billions of years. All stars begin in the
same way in as material in a NEBULA. Stars are not born individually, but in groups
called CLUSTER. Initially, the stars in a cluster have roughly the same composition.
Despite these early similarities, the stars usually develop at different rates and most
clusters drift apart before very long.
STELLAR BIRTHPLACE

In the Orion nebula light from new stars illuminate the dust clouds. The stars
themselves remain hidden by the dust.one of these young stars is 10 000 times
brighter than the sun.
FORMATION AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF A STAR
1. Inside the NEBULA, gravity causes spinning balls of gas to form PROTOSTAR.
2. The protostar shrinks and its core become denser.an outer halo of gas and dust
develop.
3. When the core reaches its critical density, nuclear reactions start. The energy
released blows
away most of the halo.
4. As the young star continues to spin rapidly, the remaining gas and dust become
flattened into
a disc.
5. The disc of gas and dust has formed into a system of orbiting planets our solar
system.
6. With or without planets, the new star now shines steadily, converting H to He by
nuclear
fusion.
CONSTELLATION is a pattern formed by the stars seen in the sky. It is a flat pattern
against the blackness of space but in fact the stars may be farther in distance from
each other than they are seen from earth. The skies around the earth have been
divided into 88 different constellations. It is a human invention
IMPORTANCE OF CONSTELLATION
1. once helped people sail ships and make calendars
2. help one learn his way around the sky
EXAMPLES OF CONSTELLATION
1. ORION THE HUNTER climbs into the northern January sky. The 3 stars of Orions
belt point
down to SIRIUS, the sky brighter sky .rising through the trees
2. BIG DIPPER Is a pattern of seven stars of URSA MAJOR, the Great Bear. In Great
Britain
this pattern is known as the PLOUGH, German call it GREAT WAGON and THREE
HORSES
3. LEO AND LIONpeople have seen Leo as a starry lion since ancient times. The 6
bright stars
that look like a backward question mark trace out lions head.leo is one the 12
constellation of
the zodiac
4. SCORPIUS THE SCORPION is the mortal enemy the Orion. These mortal enemies
are
opposite each other in the sky as one raises, the other sets. Scorpions is another
constellation.

LESSON 3: THE SOLAR SYSTEM

INPUT
The whole solar system moves through space. The planets follow elliptical orbit, all
moving in the same direction but at different speeds. Each planet also spins on its
axis.
LIGHT from the sun reaches the Earth in 8 minutes.
ORBIT is an elliptical imaginary pathway where planets revolve around the sun. it
has two parts; (1) PERIPHELION part of the orbit nearest or closest to the sun,
where planets move faster and (2) APHELION part of the orbit most distant to the
sun.
BIRTH OF THE PLANETS
The solar system was born from a swirling cloud of gas and dust. About 5 million
years ago, the cloud began to shrink. Under the force of gravity, most of the
materials fell toward the center of the cloud. Gas collected there, heated up and
became the sun. Dust and gas left over in the cloud formed the planets.
1. CLOUD OF DUST AND GAS SHRINK. Perhaps a nearby star explodes and
squeezes the cloud like a snowball. The cloud starts shrinking. The sun forms
2. CLOUD BEGINS TO ROTATE. As it shrinks, the cloud begins to spin like a
hurricane. It speeds into a flat disc around the new sun.
3. DUST IN DISC FORMS ROCKY LUMPS. The dust particles in the disc begin
to stick together and form billions of lumps of rocky materials.
4. ROCKY LUMPS COLLIDE. The se rocky lumps smash together and form
thousands of objects as big as small planets
5. THE SOLAR SYSTEM TODAY.The small planets collide for millions of years
until only few are left. These are the planets we know today, including
mysterious Pluto.
SUN is an average yellow star. It is a medium size star. It is middle aged star.
Like most other stars, it is a hot, glowing sphere of virtually pure H gas held
together by gravitational attraction

FACTORS AFFECTING TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY OF THE SUN

1. The specific process by which solar energy is generated. The source is the
THERMONUCLEAR TRANSMUTATION of H to He. Since H constitutes most of the
suns mass, and since each creation of a He nucleus liberates a huge quantity of
energy, the process is adequate to the suns energy requirement.
2. The process by which energy is transported to the surface.
a. RADIATION energy is transported most easily by radiation at the high
temperature of the solar interior
b. CONVECTION convection assists radiative transport in 2 regions in the
interior, inside a small central core and in a shell lying just below the
photosphere. H plays secondary role.
c. CONDUCTION it seems to play no important role whatever
3. The chemical composition of the interior
HELIOSEISMOLOGY study of suns vibration

PLANETS are smaller bodies than the sun that revolves around it because they are
captured by its gravity
CLASSIFICATIONS
C. Based on Location D. Based on Humans
(Asteroid Belt)
Capability
to
be
1. INNER PLANETS
Seen
Mercury innermost
1. Planets that can be
Venus
seen with the naked
1. TERRESTRIAL / ROCKY Earth
eyes
because
they
PLANETS
Mars
shine brightly in our sky
Mercury smallest
Mercury Jupiter
Venus
2. OUTER PLANETS
Earth
Venus
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Mars
Saturn
2. JOVIAN / GASEOUS
Uranus
PLANETS
Jupiter biggest
2. Planets that lie far from
Neptune outermost
the sun that you need
Saturn
binoculars
or
even
telescope to see them
Uranus
Uranus
Neptune
Neptune
A. Based
Compositions
B. Based on Size

on

MERCURY is a small rock world with a large dense core. It is named after the fleetfooted messenger of the Roman gods because it travels so quickly across the
Earths sky. It has no real atmosphere; its atmosphere is extremely thin - > 1
trillionths of Earths. Na & K are present in the daytime only, at night these
elements are absorbed into the surface rocks.
Dominated by sun, Mercury experiences the
greatest variation in surface temperature of any
planet in the solar system. It has a relatively weak
magnetic field indicating that part of the magnetic
core is still fluid. It rotates very slowly on an almost
upright axis tilted at just 2.
It can only be seen from Earth at twilight dawn or
just after sunset.

VENUS is a rock planet with a dense atmosphere,

which is almost the same size as the earth.
It spins backward compared to the other planets;
perhaps a giant asteroid hit Venus and flipped it
upside down. Driven by powerful winds, its
atmosphere moves at its own in a much faster
pace. Overhead are thick clouds of sulfuric
droplets.
MAAT MONS is an extinct volcano about 8 km
high.
Two large continent like areas rise above the average surface
1. ISHTAR TERRA
2. APHRODITE TERRA - twice as large as Ishtar Terra
EARTH. The name Earth came from the Anglo saxon word earthe meaning
land. Its axis of rotation is tilted at 23.5 that causes seasonal variations in
climate. It has a much stronger magnetic field than any of the other rock planets
produced by the rapid rotation of the nickel iron core that produced magnetic field
called magnetosphere.

Wind and rain have worn away most of Earths

impact craters. If Earth had no atmosphere to
create weather, it would have as many craters as
the moon. It has the range of temperature that
permit liquid water to exist and has developed an
oxygen rich atmosphere enabled the rocky planet
to evolve the myriad varieties of life.
Its atmosphere acts like a huge solar powered
engine, transporting and redistributing water
around the planet as clouds and rain. The oxygen in
the atmosphere is the result of life. The process of oxygenation began with bacteria
about 2 000 million years ago.
EARTHS MOON is the only satellites of the Earth which is about one quarter the
size of our planet. It is waterless, airless and lifeless place. It is covered with Maria
and craters. MARIA is a Latin word the means seas. But Maria on the moon has
never been filled with water. They are actually flat plains of ancient lava
Its battered surface is covered by craters, from the Greek word krater meaning
bowl. These scars of a massive meteorite bombardment that took place billion
years ago. Most of the craters were made about 3 000 million years ago, and are
only faintly visible. Some newer craters are identifiable by conspicuous rays of pale
ejected materials fanning out from the crater wall. Approximately, has the same
surface area as the continents of North and South America.
The pull of the Moons gravity is largely responsible
for the twice daily rise and fall of tides in Earths
seas and oceans
PHASES OF THE MOON
The moon appears to change its shape because as
it travels around us, different amounts of the face
we see are hit by the sun. When the moon comes
between us and the sun, the near side of the moon
the side that faces us is dark. This phase is
called NEW MOON. Two weeks later, the moon
has moved halfway around its orbit. Now the near
side is completely lit by the sun and we see a FULL MOON. The moon takes past
over 29 days to go from New Moon to New Moon.

1. NEW MOON. The side of the moon facing us is dark. This phase is
invisible.
2. WAXING CRESCENT. You can see this phase in the western evening sky
just after New Moon
3. FIRST QUARTER. Look high in the evening sky as the sun sets in the west
4. WAXING GIBBOUS. This moon is in the early evening sky 9 to 12 days
after New Moon
5. FULL MOON. This bright moon rises in the east just has the sun sets in
the west.
6. LAST QUARTER. This moon rises after midnight. It is high in the sky at
dawn
7. WANING CRESCENT. Get up early to see this moon. It is low in the east
at dawn.
MARS is a red-hued rock planet; the red color is caused by the presence of iron
oxide.
VALLES MARINERIS is the largest of the Martian canyons, has a length of
about 4 500 km and a maximum depth of 7 km.
THARSIS is Martian volcanic area.
OLYMPUS MONS is a giant shield volcano and the tallest mountain in the solar
system that towers 25 km high.
MARTIAN MOONS
1. PHOBOS is the inner moon that is a
potato shaped and 27 km long. It
orbits Mars at a distance of 9 380 km
every hours and 40 minutes.
2. DEIMOS is the outer smaller and darker
moon that is only 15 km long, no bigger
than a small city. It orbits Mars at a
distance of 23 462 km and taken about
30 hours to circle the planet.
Both are irregularly shaped and have every
appearance of being asteroids that were
captured by Mars gravity. Phobos means
fear and Deimos means terror
suitable companions for the planet named after the god of war.

JUPITER is the largest of the planets, has 2 times more mass than all other
planets together. It has strong magnetic field (15 times stronger than that of the
Earth) because of (1) its rapid rotation and (2) its fluid metallic interior. It does not
have solid surface.
GREAT RED SPOT is the most prominent feature of
Jupiter which is a gigantic rotating storm bigger than
the Earth. It spins like a hurricane in the clouds that can
last at least 300 years.
JUPITERS REMARKABLE SATELLITE
1. METIS is the innermost moon of Jupiter, zips around
the planet so quickly that it could cross North
America in just 2.5 minutes
2. AMALTHEA is an irregular, cratered object which is
the largest of the 4 inner moons. Its dark surface is
very red, probably contaminated by sulfur from Io.
THE GALILEAN MOONS
Four of Jupiters moons are bigger than Pluto. The astronomer Galileo discovered
these four giant moons in 1610, acquiring the name Galilean moons.
1. Fiery IO is a world of volcanoes . This
is about 20 times faster than materials
from volcanoes on Earth. Its interior is
still molten and has the first active
volcanoes to be discovered outside the
Earth. Volcanoes not only erupt with
molten rock but they also pour liquid
sulfur over the surface. The sulfur cools
and hardens into a wildly colored crust
of yellows, oranges and reds. Some
people think that this moon looks like a
pizza
2. Icy EUROPA is covered by a smooth layer of solid ice. It has sufficient internal
heat to have seas of liquid water lying beneath its featureless surface perhaps
the only other ocean in the solar system beyond Earth.
3. Gigantic GANYMEDE is the biggest moon in the solar system larger than the
planet Pluto and Mercury. It is twice as large as Pluto and bit larger than Mercury.
It is so big that if it orbited the sun instead of Jupiter, we would call it a planet. It
is believed to consist mainly of ice and slush. It may have a silicate rock core.
4. Cratered CALLISTO has thousands of craters covered with cracked and dirty
ice around a rock core. It is scared by many craters, VALHALLA being the

largest with a diameter of 3 000 km. Apart from the occasional impact of a
comet, this cold moon has hardly changed for billions of years.
SATURN is the second largest
planet in the solar system. It is
famous for its magnificent ring
system. Its atmosphere is very
similar to Jupiters but it is colder. Its
cloud layers are much thicker and
have muted bands. Rotating storms
shaped by powerful jet stream show
cyclonic activity in Saturn
SATURN RING WORLD
Saturns rings are a blizzard of snowballs. From a distance, the rings look solid, but
from close-up, you would see they are made of billions of ice chunks the size of
hailstones and snowballs. If you could pack all the ring particles together, you could
make a single giant snowball about 100 km across the size of a small moon of
Saturn. The rings consist of billions of ice-covered rock fragments found in the inner
rings closest to the planet, while fine dust accumulates in the outer rings.
SATURNS RING SETS
1. RING A outer ring
2. RING B most prominent middle ring
3. RING C faint ring often referred to in the past as the CREPE RING
Saturn has 18 moons, one is very large, seven are of average size and the rest are
small and irregular shaped. Some of the small moons are co-orbital, both a pair and
a triplet that is they share an orbit with another moon. (HELENE & DIONE / TETHYS,
TELESTO & CALYPSO Saturn is the only planet that has 3 moons sharing the same
orbit). In addition, 2 other moons, JANUS & EPITMETHEUS, have orbits that are
extremely close to each other. Astronomers believe that these 2 were once a single
moon that broke up. Most of Saturns moons are named after members of the titans,
a family of Greek supergods ruled by the giant Titan.
URANUS is seventh planet from the sun. It is a cold gas giant.
Eleven rings encircle Uranus. These are composed of some of the darkest material
yet observed in the solar system. Rings are composed of rock fragments about 1 m.
There are bright dust lanes between dark lines. The outermost Uranian ring has no
fragments less than 20 cm and sharply defined.
Little surface detail can be seen, and even close up pictures of Uranus show only a
few clouds of frozen methane gas. Its atmosphere is dominated by methane giving
the planet a bluish appearance.

NEPTUNE is the outermost of the gas giant. It is a

near twin to Uranus. It is too faint to be seen easily
from Earth. It was first observed in 1846 exactly
where it was predicted to be.
Methane in its atmosphere gives it deep blue
coloration. It radiates 2.6 times more heat that it
receives from the sun a sign of an internal source
of heat. Far too distant from the sun for the tilt to
result in a similar cycle of seasons as that of Uranus.
Its high altitude cirrus clouds of frozen methane
crystals are situated about 40 km above the main
cloud layer. And its dark low altitude clouds of
hydrosulfide.
Its atmospheric conditions are dominated
by winds blowing at op to 2 000 km / s
which carry the dark storms around the
planet.
The
highest
level
of
the
atmosphere contains a thin hydrocarbon
haze.

GREAT DARK SPOT is the largest storm

on Neptune which is about the same size
as Earth. It rotates in an anti clockwise
direction.
OTHER HEAVENLY BODIES

METEOROID

COMET

ASTEROID

1. A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when passing close to the
Sun, heats up and begins to outgas, displaying a visible atmosphere or coma,
and sometimes also a tail. It has its own orbit around the sun. It is also known
as dirty snowball. It has three parts; (1) central NUCLEUS, (2) COMA the
central atmosphere immediately surrounding the nucleus and (3) TAIL may
be a gas or a dust.
2. Asteroids are minor planets, especially those of the inner Solar System. The
larger ones have also been called planetoids.
3. A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body travelling through space.
Meteoroids are significantly smaller than asteroids, and range in size from
small grains to 1 meter-wide objects.
4. A meteorite originates in outer space as a solid piece of debris from such
sources as asteroids or comets that survives its impact with the Earth's
surface. It is called a meteoroid before its impact.
Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony
meteorites are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals; iron meteorites that
are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel; and, stony-iron meteorites that
contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material.
5. A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are
observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These
meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering
Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most
meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them disintegrate
and never hit the Earth's surface.