What is a meteor? Did space rock rock New Jersey
North Jersey residents had a rocky morning commute on Tuesday when an apparent daytime fireball exploded over New York City, sending earthquake-like tremors and booms through the New Jersey metro area.
Or was it a meteor that caused the loud booms? Here is the difference between fireballs and meteors.
What is a meteor?
NASA classifies meteors into three broad categories: meteorites, meteoroids and meteors.
"Meteoroids are rocks still in space, and range in size from dust grains to small asteroids," read NASA's website on meteorology. "When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or 'shooting stars' are called meteors.
"When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite."
What is a fireball?
According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, fireballs are souped-up meteors.
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"Fireballs and bolides are astronomical terms for exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to to be seen over a very wide area," read a potion of NASA's website on fireballs. "Ground-based observers sometimes also witness these events at night, or much more rarely in daylight, as impressive atmospheric light displays."
What does a meteor sound like?
"These may be caused by the very low frequency radio waves that are generated by meteors, which will arrive at the same time as the observer sees the meteor passing overhead," read Science Focus' website. "It has been demonstrated that these waves can cause glasses, plant foliage, pine needles and even hair to vibrate.
"This goes some way to explaining the hissing noises."
This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: What is a meteor? The space rock that may have rocked New Jersey
