METEOR SHOWER
A meteor is a space rock—or meteoroid—that enters Earth's atmosphere.
As the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance—or drag—of the air
on the rock makes it extremely hot. What we see is a "shooting star."
That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot
air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere.
When Earth encounters many meteoroids at once, we call it a meteor shower.

Why would Earth encounter many meteoroids at once? Well, comets, like
Earth and the other planets, also orbit the Sun. Unlike the nearly
circular orbits of the planets, the orbits of comets are usually quite
lop-sided. As a comet gets closer to the Sun, some of its icy surface
boils off, releasing lots of particles of dust and rock. This comet
debris gets strewn out along the comet's path, especially in the inner
solar system (where we live) as the Sun's heat boils off more and more
ice and debris. Then, several times each year as Earth makes its journey
around the Sun, its orbit crosses the orbit of a comet, which means
Earth smacks into a bunch of comet debris.
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