Very bright Meteorite

SlowBlowin wrote: »

So if a fragment made it to the ground hes right ?

How do you know it didnt ?

SB

Its a matter of category since the object appears very different

A Meteorite is a piece of debris that has survived entry/ ablation and has not been vaporised. These objects are then further categorised as "falls" or "finds" relating to if it has been recently recovered after reaching the ground, or has been left to weather in our atmosphere

A meteor is an observed atmospheric disturbance that can be described as a fireball in the sky and produces a noticeable tail (a lot like a comet does in open space as its outgassed by the sun). Larger more apparent ones are considered bolides.
Its why we call the study of our atmosphere "meteorology" as its the objects affect in our atmosphere, which is in contrast to geology

A meteoroid is basically a pristine piece of debris in open space that's preserved due to spaces near vacuum, these are fragments from asteroids, comets and even planets

Meteors are caused by certain objects but are not the objects themselves, in a similar sense to why we have the word rain describing an atmospheric occurrence of condensing water vapour. We know its water molecules falling but we don't call them waterfalls and you wouldn't say you have a bowl of rain as a result of the phenomenon

Simply put, in order of occurrence; Meteoroids cause Meteors which then can potentially create meteorites.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_fall