Which statement defines a meteor?

• A. The streak of light produced when a small object burns up entering Earth's atmosphere; shooting stars
• B. Balls of ice, rock, and dust in space with a tail
• C. A rocky body that orbits the Sun
• D. A planet with rings

Answer: (A)

The key idea is the visible streak of light that appears when a small piece of space debris enters Earth's atmosphere and burns up. That glowing trail is what we call a meteor, often described as a shooting star. The other descriptions point to different objects: comets are icy bodies with tails, asteroids are rocky bodies that orbit the Sun, and planets are large worlds that may have rings but aren’t defined by a streak of light in the atmosphere. So the statement that captures this atmospheric fire and glow best defines a meteor. If it happens to survive to the ground, the fragment is called a meteorite.