Meteor


A meteor, also known as a shooting star, 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. 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.

The logo of the Meteor Cafe featured a burning meteor and the name of the eatery in Aurebesh. 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.

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.

Meteor vs. meteorite vs. meteoroid


In real life, the term meteor refers to the streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid (a lump of rock or iron that orbits around the sun) 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. Meteoroids range in size from tiny dust grains to about 330 feet (100 meters); space debris any bigger than this is considered an asteroid.

Linguistic confusion


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

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

People often confuse meteoroid, meteor and meteorite since they are all 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 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.

This linguistic confusion has also spilled into Star Wars titles: For example, 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, they are technically meteorites.

In the one-shot 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, the scientifically correct word would be meteoroid.

In the film The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker correctly used the term "meteorite" to describe what he thinks is a space rock that hits the ground (it is actually an Imperial probe droid). 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."

The meteors of Hoth


Most meteoroids are fragments of asteroids and comets (although a few are known to come from other planets and moons), explaining the high level of meteor activity on Hoth in the film ; the Hoth system is known to have a dangerous asteroid field and most meteoroids are created from colliding asteroids.

Non-canon appearances


  • Jedi Academy: A New Class

Sources


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