What is a meteor?

Many represent a meteor as an object of cosmic origin, falling to Earth. This is not entirely true. So what is a meteor from the point of view of scientists?

Meteor (in translation from Greek - fallingstar) - is a glowing in the sky trace, remaining after combustion in the atmosphere of small cosmic bodies. These bodies are called meteoroids and can be fragments of comets or asteroids. Fallen to the ground meteoroid is called a meteorite. It is important to understand that a meteor is not an object, but a phenomenon in which a bright band can be seen in the sky. Therefore, when we admire the flashes in the night sky, we see the meteor, and not the meteoroids themselves, which are not visible.

Meteors are formed into meteorite streams - a phenomenon when a trace from a set of burning cosmic bodies is visible in the sky. The trace itself is usually visible from a few seconds to several minutes.

There is a broader understanding of the meteor, when they name all phenomena visible in the atmosphere, but it is used very rarely, in highly specialized meteorological articles.

More about meteors and meteorites in the article What is meteorites.