meteoroid
Let an agent handle meteoroids, meteors and meteorites with correct terms, observation guidance and reporting routes.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Terms Which object.
Stage
Meteoroid, meteor, meteorite.
Stage
Term.
- Is a meteoroid, meteor or meteorite meant? definition
- Which entry fits? action
Size
Scale.
Size
Size.
- How large is it? measurement
- Is it a micrometeoroid? definition
Observing Meteor showers.
Showers
Dates.
Showers
Meteor showers.
- When is the next shower, and what rate is expected? measurement
- From which source? provenance
Viewing
Tips.
Viewing
Viewing tips.
- Where and when is viewing best? action
- Does moonlight interfere? boundary
Reporting Fireballs.
Fireball
Report.
Fireball
Fireball report.
- How can a fireball sighting be reported? action
- What details are needed? definition
Finds
Meteorites.
Finds
Meteorite finds.
- What should be done with a suspected meteorite? action
- Who owns it under local law? boundary
Space Spacecraft.
Risk
Impacts.
Risk
Impact risk.
- What is the micrometeoroid risk for this orbit? measurement
- How is shielding designed? definition
Origin
Parent bodies.
Origin
Origin.
- Which comet or asteroid is the parent body? provenance
- 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
- Wikidata item Q7012: meteoroid - identity and sense of the item
- 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