Meteors are stony or rocky bodies scattered throughout the solar system and are very small in size. The meteors are also called shooting stars.
They travel at a high speed, these pieces come closer to the Earth’s atmosphere and are attracted by the gravitational force of Earth. Some are dust particles left behind by comets and other are pieces of asteroids which have collided. These are quite small, some may be as small as a sand grain.
Meteors while travelling across the Earth’s atmosphere are fast moving and get heated up to a very high temperature by air friction. The heat produced is so high, that the meteor starts glowing and then burnt and lost. The path of the meteor appears as a streak of light in the night sky. Very large meteors are able to survive from such heat destruction and actually reach the Earth’s surface. These meteors are called meteorites.
