what in the eath's atmosphere causes meteors to burn up?
492251
Friction with air.\nBecause of accelertion due to gravity(g=9.81 m/sec^2 at the equator) the meteor travels so fast on entry into the atmosphere, that is heats up due to friction and the volatile matter in the meteor burns off, leaving a bright trail of light if it's a t night, what is know as a shooting star. \n\nst
468156
Most--not all--shooting stars (meteors) are about the size of a grain of sand. Most of these specks are left-over material from comets that have passed in and out of the inner solar system.\n\nGod should be spelled B-I-G B-A-N-G\nPBrax@netscape.com
944055
Two answerers have reported cases of  hit by meteorite but it is not known whether the ususual phenomenon had been  reported by them to astronomers for  verification. If not it is only their word against the physical impossibility of meteor  ever striking anybody on earth it is difficult to believe that what hit them  was meteorite or anyt hing else.\n\nThe risk of getting hit by a meteorite is practically zero. The largest of the Leonid meteors -- a very small number -- might be the size of baseballs. But after striking the atmosphere at 44 miles per second, few if any will survive long enough to hit the ground.\n\nWhat of peope on earth  the satellites in orbit to whom meteor  pose a slight risk have never so far been hit by it.. Even the ones the size of a grain of sand, because they are moving 200 time faster than a speeding bullet, could damage a satellite beyond repair if it were to hit it just right. Another danger from the impact of a meteor on a satellite is an effect called "charging" in which the collision creates a tiny cloud of electrically charged gas, called plasma, that can short out electrical systems.\n\nMany satellite operators take precautions during meteor showers, such as angling sensitive optics away from the oncoming meteors, or turning solar arrays on edge to the shower.\n\nHowever,scientist  note that the risk of a satellite getting "taken out" by a meteorite or even a shower of it like Leonid is quite small, less than 0.1 percent. The  satellites are more at risk every day from man-made space junk.\n\nDespite this technical position there have been some cases of these bolts from the blues striking the 'sinners' (?) on earth.Thus\n\nIn all of recorded human history, no one has ever been killed by a meteor. But there have been a number of people struck by them, as well as some who were nearly struck, along with many cases of damage to animals and property. \n\nSome examples:\n\nOn November 30, 1954, Alabama housewife Ann Hodges was taking a nap on her couch when she was awakened by a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor that crashed through the roof of her house, bounced off a piece of furniture and struck her in the hip, causing a large bruise. \nOn October 9, 1992, a large fireball was seen streaking over the eastern United States, finally exploding into many pieces. In Peekskill, New York, one of the pieces struck a Chevrolet automobile owned by Michelle Knapp. Knapp was not in the car at the time, but heard the crash and ran out to her driveway to find a hole punched clear through the trunk of her car and a warm 26-pound (12-kilogram) meteorite lying under the vehicle. But things turned out well in the end -- her old and rather run-down automobile instantly became a collectors item and later sold for tens of thousands of dollars. \nOn June 21, 1994, Jose Martin of Spain was driving with his wife near Madrid when a 3-pound (1.4-kilogram) meteor crashed through his windshield, bent the steering wheel and ended up in the back seat. Martin suffered a broken finger while his wife was uninjured.
78893
all the answers yet provided were all quite valid.\nhere's something else for y'all to consider though... and that is the amount of debris that our atmosphere shields us from.  you see, upon entering the atmosphere as high speeds, it creates friction, which begets heat, and that burns up the particle in question.\n\nso.. like.. uh..  the moon has no atmosphere.  that means any habitation is going to bear the full brunt of such debris...  it's not very pleasant at breakfast to have a meteor smash through your roof, especially when that roof was keeping all your oxygen inside......
928602
burning is atmospheric OXIDATION
243153
Funny, I just watched this on the Discovery channel. Meteorites were stone falling from the sky, and not knowing how or why stone would fall from the sky.....you guessed it, the sky must be falling.
1118601
sky is nothing but made up of gases . as gases rise uo they all collect above
918263
They have been and will be... meteors and other foreign objects entered earth have some microbes in it. Some would survived along the way if they could withstand the burning heat as they hit the earth's atmosphere.
957877
Meteors can vaporize and break apart, thus "explode".  That is probably what you saw.
1116817
hail is caused in very windy storms where updrafts keep pushing it upwards stronger the wind the larger tha hail
306710
The troposphere is the layer closest to the earth's surface. This is where the earth's weather phenomena occurs. The temperature gets colder as you move upwards.\n\nThe second layer up is the stratosphere. This is where jets fly & ozone occurs. B/c of the ozone layer, it is warmer as you get here.\n\nThe third layer up is the mesosphere. This is where meteorites burn up in our atmosphere. It gets colder here as you go up b/c of less air & moving away from the ozone layer.\n\nThe next layer is the thermosphere. This is the hottest layer and is sometimes called the "heat sphere". It has the least amount of air. It is subdivided into the ionosphere & the exosphere. The ionosphere is where satellites are orbiting the earth.\n\n:)
85695
Meteors are constantly hitting the Earth.  Most of them are small and burn up in the atsmosphere.
1181166
Air is heated by the surface of the Earth on a Hot and sunny Day.  Hot air rises.  AS it rises it expands due to lowered atmospheric pressure.  As it expands it cools and begins to decend again.  Also if the air is moist as it cools it must release the moisture (rain -or hail if it is high and cold enough.)  This begins a circulation pattern up in the middle and down outside.  Often hail will begin to fall only to be caught in an updraft and carried aloft again.  This cycle continues until the hail is too heavy for the updrafts to lift it and it makes it to the ground.  This is why very strong thunderstoms with violent updrafts produce large hail.
370846
i just received email about it, so i'll just copy and paste it... \n\nEarth is about to pass through the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher, and this will cause the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on April 22nd, producing about 10 meteors per hour--modest, but pretty.  The best time to look is during the hours before sunrise on Saturday morning.  Go to a dark site away from city lights, if possible.\n\nThe Moon will also encounter the comet's tail on April 22nd, which raises an interesting possibility: Amateur astronomers may be able to spot flashes of light on the Moon when comet debris hits the lunar surface and explodes. All that's required is a backyard telescope and lots of patience.\n\nNote: This is a Northern Hemisphere shower.  South of the equator, observers will see very few Lyrids.  Southerners are, however, in an excellent position to observe Lyrid impacts on the Moon.  The Moon rises high in southern skies on April 22nd, in plain view of backyard telescopes.\n\nyou can visit the link below for observing tips and sky maps
978954
Wow, Cirric, that is a bit special.  No doubt some meteroids are debris from supernova, but iron meteroids are rare compared with the common carbonaceous ones.  \n\nReally a meteoroid is simply general space debris.  The can be created from pulverisation when an asteroid hits a planet, such as the meteorites that have been found that have come from Mars.  An asteroid hits Mars and the explosion rockets debris like shrapnel faster than Mars' escape velocity.  It blows out in many directions, but some reaches earth.\n\nComets are made up of loose material, gases and water.  When after numerous trips around the sun, those gases and water are completely driven off, you are left with a collection of rocks, gravel and dust, which are basically meteroids of one size of another.  \n\nEven active comets leave a trail of debris, and the bigger swarms of this debris provide some of our meteor showers like the Orionids and the Leonids.\n\nAsteroids collide from time to time, and they produce space shrapnel.\n\nAsteroids themselves can be thought of simply giant meteoroids.  \n\nSome meteoroids no doubt may be leftovers from the material from which the Solar System formed.\n\nSo, for Meteroids, read space debris.
120286
a meteor/comet or self destruction
337553
the Ice Age and a giant meteor