Astronomy

Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites MCQs with Answers

What is a small rocky or metallic body in space called before it enters the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Comet
B) Asteroid
C) Meteoroid
D) Planetoid
Answer: C) Meteoroid

What is the term for the bright streak of light caused by a meteoroid burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Comet
B) Meteorite
C) Meteor
D) Asteroid
Answer: C) Meteor

Which of the following is the name given to a meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and strikes the ground?
A) Meteorite
B) Asteroid
C) Comet
D) Meteor
Answer: A) Meteorite

What is the process called when a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and heats up, producing light?
A) Combustion
B) Evaporation
C) Sublimation
D) Atmospheric entry
Answer: D) Atmospheric entry

Which type of meteorite contains a mix of rock and metallic material?
A) Iron meteorite
B) Stony meteorite
C) Carbonaceous meteorite
D) Chondrite meteorite
Answer: D) Chondrite meteorite

What is the term for the point in the sky where a meteor appears to originate during a meteor shower?
A) Apex
B) Perigee
C) Zenith
D) Radiant
Answer: D) Radiant

Which of the following is a stream of debris left behind by a comet that intersects Earth’s orbit, resulting in a meteor shower?
A) Asteroid belt
B) Kuiper belt
C) Oort cloud
D) Meteoroid stream
Answer: D) Meteoroid stream

What is the most common type of meteorite found on Earth?
A) Iron meteorite
B) Stony meteorite
C) Carbonaceous meteorite
D) Chondrite meteorite
Answer: D) Chondrite meteorite

What is the name for a meteoroid that is larger than usual and causes an exceptionally bright meteor?
A) Fireball
B) Comet
C) Bolide
D) Shooting star
Answer: C) Bolide

Which layer of the Earth’s atmosphere do most meteors burn up in?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: C) Mesosphere

What is the term for the process by which a meteoroid loses mass as it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Fragmentation
B) Disintegration
C) Evaporation
D) Ablation
Answer: D) Ablation

Which of the following is not a type of meteorite?
A) Iron meteorite
B) Stony-iron meteorite
C) Lunar meteorite
D) Gaseous meteorite
Answer: D) Gaseous meteorite

What is the name for the glowing ionized gas surrounding a meteoroid as it travels through the atmosphere?
A) Coma
B) Plasma
C) Corona
D) Tail
Answer: B) Plasma

What is the term for a meteor that explodes in the atmosphere, often producing multiple fragments?
A) Fireball
B) Bolide
C) Shooting star
D) Meteorite
Answer: B) Bolide

What is the name for a meteor shower that occurs when the Earth passes through the debris trail of a comet?
A) Lunar shower
B) Solar shower
C) Meteoroid storm
D) Comet shower
Answer: C) Meteoroid storm

Which of the following is the name given to a meteoroid that explodes or disintegrates upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Asteroid
B) Meteorite
C) Fireball
D) Comet
Answer: C) Fireball

What is the term for the process of a meteoroid breaking into smaller pieces as it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Disintegration
B) Fragmentation
C) Ablation
D) Combustion
Answer: B) Fragmentation

Which layer of the Earth’s atmosphere is the densest and where most meteors burn up?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: C) Mesosphere

What is the name for the region of space beyond the orbit of Neptune where comets originate?
A) Kuiper Belt
B) Oort Cloud
C) Asteroid Belt
D) Meteoroid Stream
Answer: B) Oort Cloud

What is the term for the debris left behind by a comet or asteroid that orbits the Sun?
A) Meteoroid
B) Meteorite
C) Meteor Shower
D) Meteor Stream
Answer: A) Meteoroid

Which type of meteorite is predominantly made of iron and nickel?
A) Stony-Iron Meteorite
B) Chondrite Meteorite
C) Carbonaceous Meteorite
D) Iron Meteorite
Answer: D) Iron Meteorite

What is the term for the point in the Earth’s orbit where it is closest to the Sun?
A) Aphelion
B) Perihelion
C) Zenith
D) Apex
Answer: B) Perihelion

What is the name for the brightest meteor observed in the sky?
A) Asteroid
B) Comet
C) Meteorite
D) Bolide
Answer: D) Bolide

Which of the following is a solid piece of debris that travels through space and enters the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Meteoroid
B) Meteorite
C) Comet
D) Asteroid
Answer: A) Meteoroid

What is the term for the streak of light produced by a meteoroid as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Comet
B) Meteorite
C) Meteor
D) Asteroid
Answer: C) Meteor

What is the term for the material that burns off a meteoroid as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Ablation
B) Disintegration
C) Fragmentation
D) Combustion
Answer: A) Ablation

Which layer of Earth’s atmosphere is the coldest and where meteors typically start to glow?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: C) Mesosphere

What is the name for the region in space where most asteroids are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter?
A) Kuiper Belt
B) Oort Cloud
C) Asteroid Belt
D) Meteoroid Stream
Answer: C) Asteroid Belt

Which type of meteorite contains a mixture of rock and iron-nickel metal?
A) Iron meteorite
B) Stony-iron meteorite
C) Chondrite meteorite
D) Carbonaceous meteorite
Answer: B) Stony-iron meteorite

What is the term for a meteoroid that is exceptionally bright due to its size and velocity?
A) Fireball
B) Bolide
C) Meteorite
D) Shooting star
Answer: B) Bolide

What is the term for the path that a meteoroid takes as it travels through the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Trajectory
B) Orbit
C) Pathway
D) Stream
Answer: A) Trajectory

Which of the following is a stream of debris left behind by a comet as it orbits the Sun?
A) Meteoroid belt
B) Asteroid belt
C) Meteor shower
D) Comet tail
Answer: D) Comet tail

What is the name for the phenomenon when a meteor explodes in the atmosphere and leaves behind a glowing trail?
A) Meteor burst
B) Meteor flare
C) Meteor streak
D) Meteor train
Answer: D) Meteor train

What is the term for a meteoroid that disintegrates into smaller pieces as it travels through the atmosphere?
A) Ablation
B) Fragmentation
C) Disintegration
D) Combustion
Answer: B) Fragmentation

Which layer of Earth’s atmosphere contains the ozone layer and where airplanes typically fly?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: B) Stratosphere

What is the term for the point in the sky from which meteors in a meteor shower appear to radiate?
A) Apex
B) Zenith
C) Radiant
D) Perigee
Answer: C) Radiant

Which of the following is a meteor shower associated with the debris left behind by comet Halley?
A) Perseids
B) Geminids
C) Leonids
D) Taurids
Answer: C) Leonids

What is the name for the process by which a meteoroid heats up and glows as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Combustion
B) Ablation
C) Disintegration
D) Incandescence
Answer: D) Incandescence

Which layer of the Earth’s atmosphere is the thickest?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: A) Troposphere

What is the term for the remains of a meteoroid that reaches the Earth’s surface?
A) Meteor
B) Meteorite
C) Comet
D) Asteroid
Answer: B) Meteorite

Which type of meteorite is primarily composed of carbon compounds and water?
A) Iron meteorite
B) Stony meteorite
C) Carbonaceous meteorite
D) Chondrite meteorite
Answer: C) Carbonaceous meteorite

What is the name for the region in space where most comets originate?
A) Kuiper Belt
B) Oort Cloud
C) Asteroid Belt
D) Meteoroid Stream
Answer: B) Oort Cloud

Which of the following is a term used to describe a very bright meteor?
A) Fireball
B) Comet
C) Asteroid
D) Meteorite
Answer: A) Fireball

What is the term for the glowing trail of ionized gas left behind by a meteoroid as it travels through the atmosphere?
A) Corona
B) Plasma
C) Tail
D) Coma
Answer: C) Tail

Which layer of the Earth’s atmosphere contains the ozone layer?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: B) Stratosphere

What is the term for a meteoroid that explodes in the atmosphere, producing a shockwave?
A) Bolide
B) Meteorite
C) Fireball
D) Comet
Answer: A) Bolide

Which layer of the Earth’s atmosphere is the coldest and where most meteors begin to glow?
A) Troposphere
B) Stratosphere
C) Mesosphere
D) Thermosphere
Answer: C) Mesosphere

What is the name for the region beyond the orbit of Neptune where comets originate?
A) Kuiper Belt
B) Oort Cloud
C) Asteroid Belt
D) Meteoroid Stream
Answer: B) Oort Cloud

What is the term for the material that burns off a meteoroid as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Combustion
B) Fragmentation
C) Ablation
D) Disintegration
Answer: C) Ablation

What is the name for the streak of light produced by a meteoroid as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere?
A) Comet
B) Meteorite
C) Meteor
D) Shooting star
Answer: C) Meteor

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