Meteor

Meteor, small speck of material from space, about the size of a grain of sand. Meteors become visible as they burn up in the earth's atmosphere. Friction with the air causes them to glow and vaporize, resembling a swift streak of light (shooting star or falling star). When the earth crosses the orbit of a comet, whole swarms of meteors, called meteor showers, can be seen burning up in the atmosphere. A meteorite is a meteor that reaches the earth's surface before completely burning up in the atmosphere. An estimated 1,000 tons of meteoric material lands on the earth each day