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meteoroid

vr.tr.meteoroid · thing-q7012

Let an agent handle meteoroids, meteors and meteorites with correct terms, observation guidance and reporting routes.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems PHY.SPC

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Terms Which object.

Stage

Meteoroid, meteor, meteorite.

Stage

Term.

  1. Is a meteoroid, meteor or meteorite meant? definition
  2. Which entry fits? action

Size

Scale.

Size

Size.

  1. How large is it? measurement
  2. Is it a micrometeoroid? definition
Observing Meteor showers.

Showers

Dates.

Showers

Meteor showers.

  1. When is the next shower, and what rate is expected? measurement
  2. From which source? provenance

Viewing

Tips.

Viewing

Viewing tips.

  1. Where and when is viewing best? action
  2. Does moonlight interfere? boundary
Reporting Fireballs.

Fireball

Report.

Fireball

Fireball report.

  1. How can a fireball sighting be reported? action
  2. What details are needed? definition

Finds

Meteorites.

Finds

Meteorite finds.

  1. What should be done with a suspected meteorite? action
  2. Who owns it under local law? boundary
Space Spacecraft.

Risk

Impacts.

Risk

Impact risk.

  1. What is the micrometeoroid risk for this orbit? measurement
  2. How is shielding designed? definition

Origin

Parent bodies.

Origin

Origin.

  1. Which comet or asteroid is the parent body? provenance
  2. How was it linked? provenance

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
thing
Plane
PHY
Domain
PHY.SPC
Other names and narrower kinds
micrometeoroid

What it is Filled

A small rocky or metallic body travelling through space, much smaller than an asteroid (roughly under 1 m); when it enters the atmosphere it produces a meteor, and any surviving fragment is a meteorite.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent handle meteoroids, meteors and meteorites with correct terms, observation guidance and reporting routes.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Small body in space
  • Meteor is the light phenomenon
  • Meteorite is the surviving fragment
  • Streams cause meteor showers

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Raise public alarm about an impact risk that has not been confirmed by the responsible bodies.
  • Help remove meteorites from land without the landowner's permission or against export law.
  • Sell or describe a rock as a meteorite without evidence of its origin.

Only with a human decision

  • Issuing a public warning about an incoming object.

May

  • Track and report meteoroids and meteors from observation networks.
  • Explain the difference between a meteoroid, a meteor and a meteorite.

Moral aspects Filled

  • False impact alarms cause panic and erode trust in real warnings.
  • Meteorite finds can be scientific heritage and are protected by law in some countries.

Who is affected

  • The public
  • Landowners and finders
  • Scientific collections

Owners Filled

Steward

Nobody while in space; a fallen meteorite belongs to the landowner or the state under local law.

Master systems

  • Meteoritical Bulletin Database
  • IAU Minor Planet Center

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q1022867 - registry parent class

related

  • minor body - category
  • meteor - phenomenon
  • meteorite - if it survives
  • asteroid - related body

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.meteoroid
  • Wikidata: Q7012 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7012)

Direct properties required Filled

  • size: about 30 micrometres to 1 m - IAU usage
  • entry speed: 11-72 km/s

Recognition required Filled

  • Meteors streaking across the sky
  • Fireballs brighter than Venus
  • Micrometeoroids are dust-sized
  • Invisible in space; seen as meteors (shooting stars) in the atmosphere.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • watch meteor showers
  • report fireballs
  • study recovered meteorites
  • protect spacecraft from micrometeoroids

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Confusing meteor, meteoroid and meteorite
  • Micrometeoroid damage to spacecraft
  • Illegal collection of meteorites in protected areas

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • IAU definitions of meteor terms
  • Laws on ownership of meteorites (vary by country)

Context of use required Filled

  • Meteoroids reveal the Solar System composition and cause meteor showers.
  • micrometeoroids
  • stream meteoroids
  • sporadic meteoroids
  • fireball-producing meteoroids

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q7012: meteoroid - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Meteoroid - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should meteors and meteorites be separate entries?
  • How should showers be linked?
  • How should fireball reports be linked?

Machine files

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q7012/spec.json