Meteor

This article covers the Canon version of this subject.  Click here for Wookieepedia's article on the Legends version of this subject. 

OnACanonArticleGoToLegends

This article is about the astronomical object. You may be looking for the Legends escort freighter, the Legends Havoc Squad trooper, or meteorites or meteoroids.
Shooting star redirects here. You may be looking for other uses of the word.
"Meteor!!! Hold on! Taking evasive action! Beebee-Ate! A little warning? What do you mean you didn't see it? It's an entire meteor. How could your sensors miss something that big?"
―Poe Dameron to BB-8 while navigating the Lost Souls asteroid field[1]
Poe Dameron encounters a giant meteor

Poe Dameron encounters a giant meteor

A meteor,[2] also known as a shooting star,[3] was a form of object that entered a planet's atmosphere from space. The barren moon of Rishi was known to have meteor showers rain down onto the surface.[2] The Eye of Aldhani was a celestial event that occurred once every three years on the planet Aldhani, in which the planet was moving through a crystal belt that allowed meteors to harmlessly pass through and burn up in the planet's atmosphere.[4]

The logo of the Meteor Cafe featured a burning meteor and the name of the eatery in Aurebesh.[5] The planet Hoth had a lot of meteors; when the Rebel Alliance established a new secret base on the ice planet, all the meteor activity made it difficult to spot approaching starships.[6]

While pursuing a Resistance crew who had escaped in a passenger starship after stealing the head of a New Republic protocol droid, Rapier Squadron leader Poe Dameron chased the thieves through the Lost Souls asteroid field. Due to the gases in the field, which limited sensors, Dameron nearly collided with a giant meteor.[1]

Supernova-TSW This article is a stub about a subject or topic of science. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

Behind the scenes

Meteors, meteorites and meteoroids

In real life, the term meteor refers to the streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid[7] (a lump of rock or iron that orbits around the sun)[8] enters Earth's (or another planet's) atmosphere but burns up before it reaches the ground, which is why they're also called "shooting stars." A meteorite, on the other hand, is a meteoroid that enters the planet's atmosphere and survives the trip and hits the ground.[9] However, the terms meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite are sometimes used interchangeably in daily conversation.[10]

Meteoroids and asteroids

Meteoroids range in size from tiny dust grains[9] to about 330 feet (100 meters); space debris any bigger than this is considered an asteroid.[11]

Most meteoroids are fragments of asteroids and comets (although a few are known to come from other planets and moons),[10] explaining the high level of meteor activity on Hoth in the film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back; the Hoth system is known to have a dangerous asteroid field[6] and most meteoroids are created from colliding asteroids.[8] This is also the reason why Poe Dameron nearly crashes into a meteoroid while navigating the Lost Souls asteroid field in the one-shot comic Age of Resistance - Poe Dameron 1.[1]

Linguistic confusion

The space rocks from the meteor shower in "Rookies" strike the surface of the Rishi Moon, meaning that they're technically meteorites

The space rocks from the meteor shower in "Rookies" strike the surface of the Rishi Moon, meaning that they're technically meteorites

People sometimes confuse meteoroid, meteor and meteorite since they are occasionally used interchangeably in everyday language. The word "meteor" in particular is commonly used for a meteoroid flying through outer space, for a glowing meteoroid in the atmosphere (rather than just the burning streak of light in the sky), or for an object that has already landed on Earth (one example is found in the name Meteor Crater, a famous impact-structure in Arizona) or even a human-made object.[10]

This linguistic confusion has also spilled into Star Wars titles: For example, the space rocks from the so-called meteor shower in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Rookies" strike the surface of the Rishi Moon,[2] meaning that it's technically a meteorite shower.[9] In the Star Wars Rebels episode "Warhead," a rebel communications officer informs Garazeb Orrelios that they have been tracking several meteors which have been impacting the surface near Chopper Base, with one of them knocking out a perimeter sensor. However, since the space rocks in question have been hitting the ground,[12] they are technically meteorites.[9]

In the comic Age of Resistance - Poe Dameron 1, the titular character almost crashes into a giant rock while navigating the Lost Souls asteroid field. Dameron refers to the rock as a meteor, but since he encounters the object in an asteroid field in space, rather than in a planet's atmosphere,[1] the scientifically correct word would be meteoroid.[9]

In the film The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker correctly used the term "meteorite" to describe what he believes is a space rock that hits the ground (it is actually an Imperial probe droid).[6] However, in the canon junior novel adaptation The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?, the narrator states, "Off in the distance, a meteor crashes into the snow. You squint at it."[13]

Appearances

Wiki-shrinkable This in-universe list is incomplete. You can help Wookieepedia by expanding it.

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Age of Resistance - Poe Dameron 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rookies"
  3. ↑ The High Republic: Convergence
  4. ↑ Andor logo new Star Wars: Andor — "Aldhani"
  5. ↑ StarWars.com "Friends and Enemies" Trivia Gallery on StarWars.com: "Signage at the fueling station includes: Eat at Koe's, Bounty Emporium: Always Open, Bounty Never Sleeps; Security Services; Speeder Sales; The Pilot's Lounge (Live Band Every Night); Craft Repair and Maintenance; Repair Rack Droid Services; Orondia Tours; and Meteor Cafe." (backup link) (Slide 11)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
  7. ↑ Premium-Era-real What's the Difference Between a Meteoroid, a Meteor, and a Meteorite? by Gregersen, Erik on Encyclopædia Britannica: "A meteor is the streak of light that you see in the sky when a small piece of cometary or asteroidal material enters the atmosphere at high speed and burns up because of the frictional heating from the piece's collision with the atoms and molecules in the atmosphere. Before the small bit of comet or asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it floats through interplanetary space and is called a meteoroid." (backup link archived on May 23, 2023)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Premium-Era-real Meteoroid on National Geographic: "Meteoroids are lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun, just as planets, asteroids, and comets do. (...) Most meteoroids are created from asteroid impacts. As asteroids crash and break up, their debris is classified as meteoroids." (backup link archived on May 19, 2023)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Premium-Era-real What's the difference between a meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite? on NASA: "Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as "space rocks." When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or "shooting stars" are called meteors. When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's called a meteorite." (backup link archived on April 23, 2023)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Premium-Era-real meteor and meteoroid on Encyclopædia Britannica: "Meteoroids are believed to be mostly fragments of asteroids and comets and are placed, with them, in the category of solar system objects known as small bodies. A few meteoroids also have come from the Moon, Mars, Vesta, and possibly Mercury. The smallest meteoroids, those less than a few hundred micrometres across (about the size of a period on a printed page), are called interplanetary dust particles or micrometeoroids. The terms meteoroid and meteor (and meteorite as well) are sometimes confusingly interchanged in common usage. Meteor in particular is often applied to a meteoroid hurtling through space, to an incandescent meteoroid (rather than just its luminous streak) in the atmosphere, or to an object that has hit the ground or a human-made object. An example of the last case is found in the name Meteor Crater, a well-known impact structure in Arizona, U.S." (backup link archived on March 7, 2023)
  11. ↑ Premium-Era-real How big does a meteor have to be to make it to the ground? on HowStuffWorks: "Meteoroids have a pretty big size range. They include any space debris bigger than a molecule and smaller than about 330 feet (100 meters) -- space debris bigger than this is considered an asteroid." (backup link archived on March 25, 2023)
  12. ↑ Rebels-mini-logo Star Wars Rebels — "Warhead"
  13. ↑ The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?