Bob Kline, age 12, of Roseville, Minnesota, for his question:

How does a meteorite differ from a shooting star?

The terms associated with shooting stars    which aren't stars at all    are very confusing. This is because some of them, were invented in ancient times and others were coined by modern scientists. Originally, any unusual event in the sky was termed a meteor. It could be a "shooting star" or a lightning flash or a thunderhead. This explains how the study of weather came to be called meteorology.

Later, the term meteor was restricted to solid objects that travel the spaceways between the planets. When they collide with the earth's atmosphere we see their showy descent through the air. Scientists call them meteors, while We may less accurately call them falling or shooting stars. Most of them are consumed to ashes on the way down. But a few larger ones survive to reach the surface. Immediately, the fallen meteor, alias the shooting star, becomes a meteorite. A meteorite, now earth bound forever, was once a space traveling meteor that dashed down to the ground as what we call a shooting star.