Why does Hollywood always depict metros as flying balls of fire?

Question

If meteors have been traveling through the very cold space for at least millions of years then the chunks of the rocks that made up the meteors must be ice or at least very cold but if I am mistaken and they really are that hot, then from where do they emit the heat?

Nay, thanks for your answer but It takes them only few seconds to fall through our atmosphere so if our atmosphere can turn millions of years iced metros in to balls of fire in few minutes then why are were surviving in it?

Answer 1

You are correct that meteors are essentially large chunks of rock and dust. As far as Hollywood is concerned, you're probably used to seeing meteors in movies when they fall to earth depicted as "flying balls of fire." This is because meteors burn up in the earth's atmosphere. Most meteors burn up entirely in the atmosphere before they fall to earth...that's why it is so remarkable to find where they have hit land.

Answer 2

Simple. Friction. But it's not the meteor that burns. It's the air around the meteor that ignites. Even in those few seconds the air is compressed to unbelievable pressures and ignites at temperatures over 6000 C. This applies both to massive objects and tiny ones. The difference is that the small ones evaporate from the intense heat. The massive ones will lose part of their "skin" but the will plow on down to impact. You have any idea how much air has to get away from an object the size of a mountain traveling at speeds in excess of 30000km per hour?

Answer 3

The heat they emit they gain it as they descend into the Earth. They first impact on the Earth's atmosphere with the speed they travel with; friction between the meteor and the atmosphere starts the heating process. As they descend to earth, they gain more and more speed because of gravity the Earth exerts on those bodies. The meteors that do not burn up because of atmospheric friction, they end up being heated more and more, as a result of friction. Also the more speed they gain because of the Earth's gravity, the more friction between the object and the atmosphere, the hotter the object becomes.

Answer 4

Hollywood depicts meteors in this manner because it makes for a better special effect. It is not nearly as interesting to watch a small, cold, rocky body float around in space as it orbits the run….it is much more interesting when they plow into the Earth, turn into balls of fire, and create giant explosions.

A meteor turns into a ‘ball-of-fire’ as it heats up while entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
You are correct in assuming that normally, these bodies which end up being called “meteors” are very cold since they have been traveling around in space for millions of years, sometimes at distances much further away from the sun than Earth.
But due to the friction between the Earth’s thick atmosphere and the meteor, a lot of the meteor’s energy (Potential / Kinetic Energy) is turned into heat. This heat, in turn, turns the meteor into the ‘ball of fire’ you spoke of, and often acts to destroy the meteor before it hits the surface of the Earth.

The heat of the meteor comes from the Gravitational Potential Energy it is loosing at it falls towards the Earth. As it falls, its speed increases and it gains Kinetic Energy. As its speed increase, the force of friction / air resistance it experiences with the Earth’s atmosphere increases. The atmosphere is rubbing against the meteor and heating it up, and in the process, slowing it down some.

Think of the air rubbing against the meteor in terms of the analogy of rubbing one’s hands together. When you rub the palms of your hands together they get warm due to the friction. The faster you rub your hands, the warmed it gets. This is similar to the air ‘rubbing’ on the meteor…the friction generates heat. The meteor is traveling amazingly fast and thus, a great deal of heat is generated in a very short amount of time.

The Earth is hit with meteors all the time…some big, some small, but most of these never make it all the way through the atmosphere without burning up. When they do actually make it all the way to the surface they are called “meteorites”. You can see from the surface of the moon, we have been bombarded a lot with meteors/meteorites in the past, but unlike the moon, we have a ‘shield’, if you will, of atmosphere, and weather here on the Earth to erode away much of the evidence of the times we do get hit.

Answer 5

Its the friction of falling through the atmosphere so fast that causes them to heat up and burn like they do. Thats why the shuttle re-entries are so dangerous. When an object enters the gravitational pull of the Earth and it begins to fall towards it, it at first is coming from such a high altitude that the atmosphere is as empty as space, but as the object gets further into the atmosphere it encounters more and more resistance due to the atmosphere being thicker. Friction is where the heat is coming from.

Answer 6

the ball of fire which a meteor transforms into as it enters the earth's atmosphere is caused by the friction of matter and the electromagnetic field that protects our planet from the sun, and causes the meteor to disintegrate upon entry

Answer 7

The upper layers of the atmosphere are what is hot. The lower layers, were we are, are temperate. The meteorites are hot just like that space shuttle which burnt up was still hot minutes after it came through the hottest portions of the atmosphere. The balls of ice and ore are still hot when they get here also.

Answer 8

Actually, the fire occurs when an object enters the earth's atmosphere travelling at a high rate of speed. Friction causes heat and enough heat + air = fire.

Answer 9

It's called Hollywood. They want to make people believe something that isn't true. Except for that. Meteors are all fiery because of friction.

Answer 10

Because it was written at a time when men held positions of power. However since God & Satan don't bear children they are both a non gender. Jesus came to earth as a male since he needed a position of power and for the time period only men were allowed to study & read. But for all intents and purposes angels & divinity are not a gender.