Meteors

Meteors are small celestial objects, usually fragments of asteroids or comets, that enter the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds. As they descend, they encounter friction with the atmosphere, which causes them to heat up and produce a bright streak of light across the sky, commonly referred to as a "shooting star." Most meteors are small, typically the size of a grain of sand or a pebble, and burn up completely before reaching the ground. However, if a meteor survives its passage through the atmosphere and lands on Earth’s surface, it is then called a meteorite. The phenomenon of many meteors appearing in a concentrated period is known as a meteor shower, often associated with the debris left behind by a comet's orbit.