A bolide is normally taken to mean an exceptionally bright meteor, but the term is subject to more than one definition, according to context. It may refer to any large crater-forming body, or to one that explodes in the atmosphere. It can be a synonym for a fireball, sometimes specific to those with an apparent magnitude of −4 or brighter.
A bolide – a very bright meteor of an apparent magnitude of −4 or brighter
A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than meteoroids are classified as micrometeoroids or space dust. Many are fragments from comets or asteroids, whereas others are collision impact debris ejected from bodies such as the Moon or Mars.
Meteoroid embedded in aerogel; the meteoroid is 10 µm in diameter and its track is 1.5 mm long
2008 TC3 meteorite fragments found on February 28, 2009, in the Nubian Desert, Sudan
Meteor seen from the site of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)
A meteor of the Leonid meteor shower; the photograph shows the meteor, afterglow, and wake as distinct components
