Shooting stars are glowing streaks of light produced by small pieces of space rock and dust when they enter the atmosphere at high speed. These meteoroids come from asteroids and comets – pieces of space rock that floats about in between the planets and orbit the sun with them.

During their journey, some pieces of rock and dust break off from them due to changes in temperature as they get closer and further from the Sun. Occasionally, some of these rocks are flung toward the Earth and enter its atmosphere. 

While the smaller meteoroids will burn at high altitudes in the atmosphere, the larger and heavier ones contain a large core made of iron which cannot be vaporized by atmospheric friction (also known as atmospheric drag). They land on the surface and form craters… these are classified as meteorites.

The first kind, the micrometeoroids, are the ones that amateur astronomers most look forward to admiring. When these space rocks enter the atmosphere,  they leave bright streaks in their wake as they burn up in the night sky. 

While more than 25 million such micrometeoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere every single day, the most prominent ones occur when Earth’s orbit around the Sun intersects a comet’s orbit. These are predictable regions in space where “meteor showers” take place in the sky. Some of the most intense meteor showers can produce 100 shooting stars in less than an hour!