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Q1
(IAS/1995)
Science & Technology › Basic Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) › Astronomy and astrophysics
Answer Verified
A meteor is
Result
Your answer:
—
·
Correct:
B
Explanation
A meteor is the visible streak of light produced when a meteoroid enters and heats up in Earth’s atmosphere; it is popularly called a shooting or falling star because the incoming space debris burns due to atmospheric friction [1]. Book sources define a meteoroid as the solid debris in space and a meteor as the luminous trail that appears around 200 km altitude as the object vaporises; if any fragment reaches the ground it is a meteorite [1]. This distinguishes meteors from actual stars (option 1), from fixed parts of constellations (option 3), and from comets (option 4), which are icy bodies that may show tails when near the Sun [2].
Sources
- [1] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 2: The Solar System > Meteoroid, Meteor and Meteorite > p. 36
- [2] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 20: Earths Atmosphere > Shields the earth from impact objects > p. 280
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