KOMPAS.com – Estimated hundreds to thousands meteoroid fall to earth every year. However, meteor which enters is burned in the mesosphere layer of the atmosphere. The cause of the burning of the meteoroid is due to the friction between the meteor and the air.
Why do meteors burn in the atmosphere? Reported from American Meteor Societymeteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere at very high speeds ranging from 11 to 72 kilometers per second.
This great speed decreases as the meteoroid enters the denser layers of Earth’s atmosphere. In the exosphere and thermosphere, meteoroids do not experience much change because of the lack of air.
However, then a meteoroid entered mesosphere layer denser because it contains more air.
Read also: Difference between Meteoroid, Meteor and Meteorite
The meteoroid velocity and the density of the mesosphere layer generate great friction and create heat. The heat formed can reach a temperature of 3000 Fahrenheit or about 1600 degrees Celsius.
The heat burns the meteor and releases light. Reporting from Space, several large meteors splashed, causing bright flashes called fireballs and explosions that were heard up to 30 miles away.
The bright flash makes the falling meteor burn look like a shooting star. About 90 percent of the meteors that fall to Earth burn up in the atmosphere.
Reported from NASAspace rocks that are 25 meters in diameter and below are likely to ignite upon entering Earth’s atmosphere causing little or no damage to Earth.
Read also: Mesosphere: Meteor Destroying Layer
Meanwhile, space rocks (meteors and asteroids) with a diameter of more than 25 meters may not burn out. The rest of the meteor rock that reaches the earth’s surface or is not burned up in the atmosphere is called meteorite.
Meteorite depending on its size can cause damage to the earth’s surface. It’s not just the impact of the meteorite that is dangerous, but the shockwave it generates. Meteorite shock waves can explode and cause a crater to form on the earth’s surface.
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