Meteoor

Meteoor is the Estonian term for a meteor, the visible luminous streak produced when a small rocky or metallic body from space—called a meteoroid—enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up due to friction. Most meteoroids originate as fragments from comets or debris left by asteroids, and they become meteors when they heat and vaporize in the air.

As a meteoroid enters the atmosphere, it travels at high speed and ablates, producing light that can be seen from the ground. The resulting streak typically lasts a fraction of a second to several seconds. If any fragment survives to reach the surface, it is classified as a meteorite. Larger atmospheric events are described as bolides or fireballs and may be accompanied by loud sounds or rare airbursts.

Meteors are commonly observed under dark skies, and meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through a stream of debris left by a comet or asteroid, producing increased hourly rates of meteors. Well-known showers include the Perseids, Leonids, and Geminids, each associated with a specific parent body and radiant region in the sky.

Scientific study of meteors helps researchers understand the composition of the early solar system and the distribution of small bodies. Observational methods include visual counting, photographic and video recording, radar tracking, and spectroscopic analysis to determine velocity, trajectory, and chemical makeup. The terminology distinguishes the phases: meteoroid (the object before atmospheric entry), meteoor (the luminous event in the atmosphere), and meteorite (the object that reaches the ground).