Why do meteorites burn in the mesosphere?

an image representing the mesosphere, one of the layers of earth's atmosphere. this is ... Have you ever seen a meteor shower, where meteors burn up and streak across the sky? Some people call them shooting stars. Those meteors are burning ... layers in Earth's atmosphere. Where would you like to go? read more

When meteorites enter the atmosphere, they are moving at speeds above Earth escape velocity. At this type of speed, the air in front of the meteor is compressed, heating up. The high heat burns the meteor up. read more

The incandescence of a meteor is caused by friction between thesurface of the meteoritic body and Earth's atmospheric gas. read more