Meteors, and Meteorites Slide 132 of 188 Meteors, and Meteorites Meteorites are usually fragments from broken asteroids which impact with the Earth s surface. In order for Earth impact, the object must be of substantial size. If it were small, it would burn up in Earth s atmosphere before striking the surface of the Earth. If the fragments burn up before striking the Earth s surface they are referred to as meteors.
Meteors are smaller in size.
These particles are not commonly associated with asteroid fragments. Meteors are usually particles which originate as small fragments given off by comets.