Today Phil helps keep you from ticking off an astronomer in your life by making sure you know the difference between a meteor, meteorite, and meteoroid. When the Earth plows through the stream emitted by a comet we get a meteor shower. Meteors burn up about 100 km above the Earth, but some survive to hit the ground. Most of these meteorites are rocky, some are metallic, and a few are a mix of the two. Very big meteorites can be a very big problem, but there are plans in the works to prevent us from going the way of the dinosaurs.

Meteorite Links:
Aerolite Meteorites, Inc.: www.aerolite.org/
Big Kahuna Meteorites: bigkahuna-meteorites.com/
Arizona Skies Meteorites: www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com/

--

Table of Contents
What Meteors Are 0:59
Meteor Shower 4:22
What Meteors Are Made Of 7:10
Very Big Meteorites Can Be a Very Big Problem 8:36

--

PBS Digital Studios: youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios

Follow Phil on Twitter: twitter.com/badastronomer

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse
Twitter - www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse
Tumblr - thecrashcourse.tumblr.com
Support CrashCourse on Patreon: www.patreon.com/crashcourse

--

PHOTOS/VIDEOS
Shooting star dakotalapse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/IMG_5555-reboot1.jpg [credit: Randy Halverson / Dakotalapse.com]
Cosmic Fireball Falling Over ALMA www.eso.org/public/usa/images/potw1414a/ [credit: ESO / Christoph Malin]
Meteor light sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/704204_406950402710734_1157020008_o.jpg [credit: Randy Halverson / Dakotalapse.com]
Bolide 10/16/14 www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZXqmPhd8AQ [credit: reddit user -545-]
Meteor Video svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010747/10747_Swift_Asteroid_H264_Good_1280x720_29.97.mov [credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center]
Orbit Video svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004159/209PLINEAR-swingAround.slate.HD1080.mp4 [credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio]
When Gemini Sends Stars to Paranal twanight.org/newTWAN/photos.asp?ID=3003955 [credit: Stephane Guisard]
Perseid below space station apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1208/iss028e024847perseid.jpg [credit: NASA]
Geminids shower www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/12/15/geminids_meteor_shower_photo.html [credit: Neil Zeller]
Cygnus Reentry www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/08/18/fireball_astronauts_photograph_cygnus_resupply_ship_burning_up.html [credit: ESA/NASA]
Stony meteorite en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AllendeMeteorite.jpg [credit: Wikimedia Commons, H. Raab]
Iron meteorite commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nickel-iron_meteorite_fragment,_5.5_billion_years_old,_found_near_Flagstaff_AZ_-_Franklin_Institute_-_DSC06707.JPG [credit: Wikimedia Commons, Daderot]
Stony iron meteorite en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallasite#/media/File:Bernham_meteorite_sept_2010.JPG [credit: Wikimedia Commons, Supportstorm]
Chondrites commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allende_meteorite,_carbonaceous_chondrite_(14787764392).jpg [credit: Wikimedia Commons, James St. John]
Pallasite www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/14608975850/ [credit: James St. John]
Aftermath of Chelyabinsk Meteor www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9KwK0izt5c [credit: NASA]
Near-Earth asteroid 2013 www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmPsQdEHyPU [credit: Gianluca Masi, permission granted by author]
Dinosaur drawing courtesy of Zach Weiner of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1535

1. Introduction to Astronomy
2. Naked Eye Observations
3. Cycles in the Sky
4. Moon Phases
5. Eclipses
6. Telescopes
7. The Gravity of the Situation
8. Tides
9. Introduction to the Solar System
10. The Sun
11. The Earth
12. The Moon
13. Mercury
14. Venus
15. Mars
16. Jupiter
17. Jupiter's Moons
18. Saturn
19. Uranus & Neptune
20. Asteroids
21. Comets
22. The Oort Cloud
23. Meteors
24. Light
25. Distances
26. Stars
27. Exoplanets
28. Brown Dwarfs
29. Low Mass Stars
30. White Dwarfs & Planetary Nebulae
31. High Mass Stars
32. Neutron Stars
33. Black Holes
34. Binary and Multiple Stars
35. Star Clusters
36. Nebulae
37. The Milky Way
38. Galaxies, part 1
39. Galaxies, part 2
40. Gamma-Ray Bursts
41. Dark Matter
42. The Big Bang, Cosmology part 1
43. Dark Energy, Cosmology part 2
44. A Brief History of the Universe
45. Deep Time
46. Everything, The Universe...And Life
47. Explore The Solar System:

In this Crash Course series, marvel at the wonders of astronomy with your host for this intergalactic adventure, the Bad Astronomer himself -- Phil Plait. In just 40 short lessons, you will learn the basics of the oldest science known to humanity.

Be sure to check out links to relevant Photos in the description for each video.