A meteor is a streak of light in the sky caused by a meteoroid crashing through Earth’s atmosphere. 
 
Meteoroids are lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun. Most meteoroids are small fragments of rock created by asteroid collisions. Comets also create meteoroids as they orbit the sun and shed dust and debris. 
 
When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s upper atmosphere, it heats up due to friction from the air. The heat causes gases around the meteoroid to glow brightly, and a meteor appears. Meteors are often referred to as shooting stars or falling stars because of the bright tail of light they create as they pass through the sky. Most meteors occur in Earth’s mesosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
 
Even the smallest meteors are visible from many kilometers away because of how fast they travel and how brightly they shine. The fastest meteors travel at speeds of 71 kilometers (44 miles) per second. 
 
The faster and larger the meteor, the brighter and longer it may glow. The smallest meteors only glow for about a second while larger and faster meteors can be visible for up to several minutes. Although thousands of meteors fall during the day, meteors are best observed at night, when the streaks of light are visible in the dark sky.
 
Meteors appear in different colors, depending on the chemical composition of the space rock and the air it is passing through. A meteor with high iron content, for instance, will appear yellow. A meteor with high calcium content may appear as a purple streak of light.
 
Scientists think up to 50 metric tons of meteors fall on the Earth each day, but most are no bigger than a pebble. Meteors that don’t burn up in the atmosphere strike Earth’s surface. These meteors are called meteorites. 
 
Types of Meteors
 
Meteors are described by their size, brightness and proximity to Earth. 
 
Earthgrazers are meteors that streak close to the horizon and are known for their long and colorful tails. Some earthgrazers bounce off Earth’s upper atmosphere and re-enter outer space. Other earthgrazers break up in the atmosphere and streak through the sky as falling stars. 
 
The most famous earthgrazer is probably the “1972 Great Daylight Fireball,” which entered the atmosphere over the U.S. state of Utah, streaking through the sky at 15 kilometers per second (9 miles per second). Thousands of people reported seeing the meteor. The earthgrazer exited the atmosphere over the Canadian province of Alberta.
 
Fireballs are larger meteors, ranging in size from a basketball to a small car. Fireballs have brighter and longer-lasting light than earthgrazers. The International Astronomical Union describes a fireball as a “meteor brighter than any of the planets.”
 
Fireballs are probably the most common type of meteor. Members of organizations such as the American Meteor Society report hundreds of sightings every year. As of July 2014, for instance, more than 1,500 fireballs were reported in the United States. Some were seen only in a small area, while others were reported by stargazers across several states. 
 
Bolides are even brighter and more massive than fireballs and often explode in the atmosphere. These explosions can be heard and even felt on the Earth’s surface. Some astronomers classify bolides as fireballs that produce a sonic boom as they streak through the atmosphere.
 
Certain bolides, known as superbolides, are so bright and create such a large explosion that they become natural hazards, and dangerous to people and communities. The superbolide meteor that passed over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 exploded with the energy of around 500 kilotons of TNT. Its shock wave shattered windows in thousands of apartment buildings and sent more than 1,200 people to the hospital for injuries. The Chelyabinsk meteor was so bright—30 times brighter than the sun at its most intense—that it left people with skin and retinal burns. Scientists are studying the Chelyabinsk event to better understand how vulnerable human life is to space object collisions, and to develop technologies that protect Earth from them.
 
Meteor Showers
 
Usually, just a few meteors are visible over the course of an hour, but sometimes the sky is filled with lights that look like heavenly fireworks. These meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet. 
 
Comets shed particles that appear as a dusty trail behind the “dirty snowball” of rock, ice, and gas that makes up the comet’s nucleus. As the Earth passes through a comet’s tail, the rocky debris collides with our atmosphere, creating the colorful streaks of a meteor shower. Meteor storms are even more intense than showers, defined as having at least 1,000 meteors per hour.
 
All the meteors in a meteor shower seem to come from one spot in the sky. This spot is called the radiant point, or simply the radiant. 
 
Meteor showers are named after the constellation in which their radiant appears. The source of the meteors is not the constellation, of course, but rather the comet from which they have broken off. For example, the Leonid meteor shower appears to produce meteors falling from the constellation Leo, but are actually debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Visible every November, the Leonids are considered some of the fastest and longest-lasting meteors. Other important meteor showers include the Perseids, the Orionids, and the Geminids. Like the Leonids, they are predictable events, occuring yearly at specific times.
meteor
One of the Perseids burns up in Earth's atmosphere.
Tunguska
The largest meteor air burst in recorded history occurred over the forests of Siberia, Russia, near the Tunguska River in 1902. The so-called Tunguska Event leveled millions of trees and exploded with the power of about 12,000 kilotons of TNT.
Tecumseh
Communities and cultures all over the world have been familiar with meteors for hundreds and even thousands of years. The name of the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh, for instance, means “Shooting Star.”

Bright Nights
The most brilliant meteor shower in recorded history happened on November 12-13, 1833, when tens of thousands of meteors lit up the sky in just four hours. In contrast, most showers produce fewer than 100 meteors an hour. The 1833 display was one of the Leonid showers that occur every November.

air
Noun

layer of gases surrounding Earth.
asteroid
Noun

irregularly shaped planetary body, ranging from 6 meters (20 feet) to 933 kilometers (580 miles) in diameter, orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
astronomer
Noun

person who studies space and the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere.
atmosphere
Noun

layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body.
bolide
Noun

unusually large, bright meteor.
classify
Verb

to identify or arrange by specific type or characteristic.
collision
Noun

crash.
comet
Noun

celestial object made up of ice, gas, and dust that orbits the sun and leaves a tail of debris.
Comet Tempel-Tuttle
Noun

comet that orbits the sun every 33 years.
composition
Noun

arrangement of the parts of a work or structure in relation to each other and to the whole.
constellation
Noun

group of stars that form a recognizable shape.
debris
Noun

remains of something broken or destroyed; waste, or garbage.
dust
Noun

microscopic particles of rocks or minerals drifting in space. Also called cosmic dust or space dust.
earthgrazer
Noun

meteor that enters Earth's atmosphere and usually leaves again.
explosion
Noun

violent outburst; rejection, usually of gases or fuel
fireball
Noun

very bright meteor.
fragment
Noun

piece or part.
friction
Noun

force produced by rubbing one thing against another.
gas
Noun

state of matter with no fixed shape that will fill any container uniformly. Gas molecules are in constant, random motion.
horizon
Noun

line where the Earth and the sky seem to meet.
ice
Noun

water in its solid form.
intense
Adjective

extreme or strong.
Leonid meteor shower
Noun

annual event, usually in November, when debris from the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle fall as meteors. Also called the Leonids.
local
Adjective

having to do with the area around a specific place.
Mars
Noun

fourth planet from the sun, between Earth and Jupiter.
massive
Adjective

very large or heavy.
mesosphere
Noun

region in Earth's atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
meteor
Noun

rocky debris from space that enters Earth's atmosphere. Also called a shooting star or falling star.
meteorite
Noun

type of rock that has crashed into Earth from outside the atmosphere.
meteoroid
Noun

small, rocky body traveling around the sun.
meteor shower
Noun

large amount of rocky debris falling into Earth's atmosphere, usually when Earth passes through the orbit of a comet.
microscope
Noun

instrument used to view very small objects by making them appear larger.
natural hazard
Noun

event in the physical environment that is destructive to human activity.
observe
Verb

to watch.
observer
Noun

someone who watches, or observes.
occur
Verb

to happen or take place.
orbit
Noun

path of one object around a more massive object.
outer space
Noun

space beyond Earth's atmosphere.
particle
Noun

small piece of material.
pebble
Noun

very small, rounded rock.
planet
Noun

large, spherical celestial body that regularly rotates around a star.
predictable
Adjective

regular or able to be forecasted.
protect
Verb

to take action to prevent injury or attack.
province
Noun

division of a country larger than a town or county.
proximity
Noun

nearness.
radiant point
Noun

spot in the sky from which a meteor shower seems to originate.
retina
Noun

sensitive tissue at the back of the eye that receives images and sends signals to the brain about what is seen.
rock
Noun

natural substance composed of solid mineral matter.
shed
Verb

to release or cast off.
shock wave
Noun

moving, measurable change in pressure and density of a material.
sonic boom
Noun

loud noise caused by sound waves as an object travels at supersonic speed.
specific
Adjective

exact or precise.
sun
Noun

star at the center of our solar system.
tail
Noun

stream of gas or dust debris behind a comet.
visible
Adjective

able to be seen.
vulnerable
Adjective

capable of being hurt.

Articles & Profiles

Video

Websites

  • Credits

    Media Credits

    The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

    Editor

    Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing

    Producer

    Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society

    Last Updated

    Aug. 1, 2014

  • User Permissions

    For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

    Media

    If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

    Text

    Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

    Interactives

    Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.