Meteor vs Meteorite
When Aristotle wrote a book on weather he called it Meteorologica.
Thus Aristotle's book concerned the study of things which happen high up in the atmosphere.
The science of weather and weather forecasting today is called “meteorology.”
But Aristotle thought that certain phenomena, such as shooting stars, were events in the atmosphere — which, of course, is correct as far as it goes. A shooting star is an event taking place in the atmosphere. However he was unaware that shooting stars had an astronomical origin.
Later, stones that had fallen out of the sky were called meteors or meteorites. The two words were used interchangeably at first — they are still used that way in several languages — but later English astronomical usage began to make a sharp distinction.
Each term describes a rock which is of celestial origin.
- Meteorite
- an object which has landed on the earth and can be picked up from the ground.
- Meteor
- an object which flashes through the sky and may or may not land on the earth. Some are burned up upon entry.
- Meteroid
- an object which is still in space before it enters the earth’s atmosphere.