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 up in the mesosphere. 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