Have you ever looked up on a dark night and seen a light streak across the sky? Maybe it only lasted a split second, and you weren\u2019t sure what you saw, but hoped it was a shooting star. Maybe you kept staring up, hoping to catch another one, until your parents finally told you it was time to come in and go to bed. If you haven\u2019t been lucky enough to see one, don\u2019t worry! Thousands of shooting stars can be seen each year from the ground, so you have lots of chances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Actually, that\u2019s not quite true. They\u2019re not really stars at all, but meteors, or bits of rock that come from space and fall through the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. They go so fast that they burn up and create that thrilling streak of light as they fall. Usually, the pieces are small, like a pebble, and the streak is about as bright as a normal star. But sometimes, if the rock is bigger, it\u2019s much brighter. If it\u2019s very bright, it\u2019s called a fireball! Most meteors burn up high above the Earth, but about 3 thousand fall all the way to Earth every year. When this happens, it\u2019s called a meteorite.\u00a0 Most meteorites land in the ocean, so you don\u2019t need to worry about them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n