meteoorides

Meteoorides is a term that appears in some online glossaries and speculative fiction to describe a class of small rocky bodies that travel through interplanetary space and can interact with planetary atmospheres. It is not an established part of mainstream astronomy and has no formal definition in peer‑reviewed literature. Its meaning and scope vary by source, with different authors using it to denote different subpopulations.

In many uses, meteoorides are imagined as objects intermediate in size between meteoroids and small asteroids, composed of rocky or metallic material. They may range from centimeters to tens of meters in diameter and can follow highly eccentric or inclined orbits.

If they enter a planet's atmosphere, they can produce meteor phenomena and, in some cases, fragment or survive as meteorites, though specifics depend on composition and speed.

Because meteoorides are not a formal category, they sometimes appear alongside meteoroids and asteroids in fiction, games, and online glossaries, where the term is used as a convenient shorthand for space rocks in transit.

See also meteoroid, meteor, meteorite, asteroid.