What are meteoroids?

A meteoroid is like a tiny space rock traveling through the universe, just like how you might throw a pebble across a pond.

Imagine you're playing with your toys in the backyard, and one of them rolls away from you. That toy is like a meteoroid, moving through the air (or in this case, space). These rocks are not very big, they can be as small as a grain of sand or as big as a boulder.

Meteoroids come from places far away, like broken pieces of asteroids or parts of comets. They're floating in space until something, like Earth’s gravity, pulls them toward our planet.

When they enter the atmosphere (the layer of air around Earth), they heat up and shine, creating a meteor, which is like a bright streak in the sky, just like when you flick a lighter on a dark night. Sometimes, if the rock survives the journey all the way to the ground, it becomes a meteorite, landing with a thud right where you’re playing.

So next time you see a shooting star, imagine it's a tiny space pebble making its way across the sky, just like one of your toys flying through the air! A meteoroid is like a tiny space rock traveling through the universe, just like how you might throw a pebble across a pond.

Imagine you're playing with your toys in the backyard, and one of them rolls away from you. That toy is like a meteoroid, moving through the air (or in this case, space). These rocks are not very big, they can be as small as a grain of sand or as big as a boulder.