Meteors

Meteors, also known as shooting stars, are pieces of dust and debris from space that burn up in Earth's atmosphere, where they can create bright streaks across the night sky. When Earth passes through the dusty trail of a comet or asteroid's orbit, the many streaks of light in the sky are known as a meteor shower. Particularly large chunks of material can create an extra-bright fireball streak, but most meteors are still small enough to entirely burn up in Earth's atmosphere. If a meteor makes it to Earth it's known as a meteorite. Before they hit atmosphere the objects are called meteoroids. 

Related Topics: Asteroids, Aurora Borealis, Comets 

Latest Updates

December is usually marked by a series of meteor showers. Geminid meteors, like the one seen here, light up the skies at the beginning of the month, while the Ursids put on a show just before Christmas.

The Ursid meteor shower peaks tonight. Don't expect to see many 'shooting stars.'

By Joe Rao last updated

The Ursid meteor shower of 2021 will peak overnight on Dec. 21 but don't expect a great meteor display.

A view of the sky over Cape Vyatlina on Russky Island, Russia, during the peak of the 2021 Geminid meteor shower.

See stunning pictures of the Geminid meteor shower of 2021

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

The meteor shower was at its peak Monday (Dec. 13), but you can still catch a good sky show for a few days.

The Geminid meteor shower is named after the constellation Gemini, the twins, from which the meteors appear to originate.

The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight! Here's how to watch online.

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

The Geminid meteor shower will reach its peak tonight (Dec. 13), and you can watch the annual starry night display live online via NASA's Meteor Watch Facebook page.

Sian Proctor Inspiration4 meteorite

SpaceX's all-civilian Inspiration4 astronaut crew flew a meteorite back to space (briefly)

By Elizabeth Howell published

Astronaut Sian Proctor says it's the first time humans deliberately let a space rock revisit its home.

A Geminid seen above a lighthouse in Vladivostok, Russia, in December 2018.

The Geminids peak next week! Here's how to spot them despite the bright moon.

By Joe Rao last updated

The December Geminid meteor shower is usually considered the most satisfying of the annual meteor displays, but this year, the moon will put a damper on the spectacle.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks overnight on Nov. 16-17, 2021, with the best views arriving before dawn on Nov. 17.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks tonight! But don't expect to see much.

By Joe Rao published

The Leonids are likely to be a major disappointment in 2021, partly because of the expected lack of any significant activity, but mainly because of the full moon.

A photo of a chondrite meteorite (not the same one that fell in a bed in Canada)

Canadian meteorite's roof crash leads to research on space rock orbits and building strikes

By Elizabeth Howell published

Scientists are on the hunt for the origin story of a meteorite that smashed through the roof into a bedroom in Canada on Oct. 3.

A bright fireball from the Taurid meteor shower lights up the night sky over Grasonville, Maryland in this photo captured by skywatcher Alex M., who reported it to the American Meteor Society.

Brilliant fireball lights up night sky after SpaceX Crew-3 astronaut launch

By Tereza Pultarova published

A brilliant fireball lit up the night sky just after a SpaceX rocket launched the Crew-3 NASA mission late Wednesday (Nov. 10).

A brilliant fireball from the Taurid meteor shower lights up the night sky over a NASA Marshall Space Flight Center camera in Tullahoma, Tennessee on Oct. 28, 2014.

The Taurid meteor shower of 2021 is peaking now. Here's what to expect.

By Joe Rao last updated

The annual Taurid meteor shower made of bits of the comet Encke is peaking Friday, Nov. 5.

The fireball created by the dead Russian satellite Kosmos-2551 re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on Oct. 20, 2021, captured by Brian Stalsonburg from Comstock Park, Michigan.

Failed Russian spy satellite falls to Earth in brilliant fireball (video)

By Mike Wall last updated

A failed Russian spy satellite crashed back to Earth early this morning (Oct. 20), burning up in a brilliant fireball spotted by many observers in the American Midwest.

The constellation Orion the Hunter takes center stage in this Orionid meteor shower shot by astrophotographer Gowrishankar Lakshminarayanan. He captured these Orionid meteors streaking through the sky over New York's Catskill Mountains on Oct. 21, 2017.

The 2021 Orionid meteor shower peaks tonight! Here's what to expect.

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

The annual Orionid meteor shower will reach its peak today (Oct. 20), but could have some competition with the full Hunter's Moon set to rise tonight, too.

Orionid meteors streak through the starry sky over Big Bend National Park in Texas, in this composite of four shots taken by astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill in October 2017.

The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week, but don't expect to see many 'shooting stars'

By Joe Rao last updated

During these next few mornings, we'll have a chance to see a few pieces of Halley's Comet zipping through our atmosphere in the form of meteors.

This rare lunar meteorite (which is not the meteorite that recently fell in British Columbia) is on display at the UCLA Meteorite Gallery. Only a small fraction of the meteorites that strike Earth each year are ever recovered.

Meteorite crash-lands in woman's bed in Canada

By Mindy Weisberger last updated

A meteorite that landed in British Columbia crashed through a roof and narrowly missed hitting a woman who was asleep in her bed at the time.

A Draconid meteor streaks across the starry sky over Taos, New Mexico, in this photo taken by Mike Lewinski on Oct. 5, 2018.

Draconid meteor shower peaks tonight! Here's how to see it.

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

The annual Draconid meteor shower peaks tonight (Oct. 8), just after dusk, and the moon will be dim enough for skywatchers to catch a good view.

A "shooting star" lights up the night sky during the 2021 Perseid meteor shower.

New 'Arids' meteor shower spotted from the Southern Hemisphere

By Doris Elin Urrutia published

A new meteor shower began outbursting last week and astronomers expect its main peak to happen in the next few days.

A surveillance camera captured this view of a fireball over Hartsel, Colorado (about 100 miles, or 160 kilometers southwest of Denver), at 4:31 a.m. local time on Oct. 3, 2021.

Bright fireball lights up the pre-dawn sky over Colorado (video)

By Elizabeth Howell published

At least dozens of people reported seeing a brilliant fireball over Colorado early Sunday (Oct. 3).

Since there aren't any images of the Greenland fireball, here's an illustration of a space rock burning up as it enters Earth's atmosphere.

32,000 mph fireball spotted soaring over North Carolina

By Ben Turner published

The fireball’s bright streak was captured by a neighborhood porch camera.

chinese space satellite yangwang 1 aurora meteors

Chinese commercial satellite has been spotting meteors and aurora

By Andrew Jones published

A small Chinese commercial satellite has been detecting meteors impacting the atmosphere and even filming the aurora.

A screenshot of the system scientists used to correlate footage of a February 2020 fireball with still images.

Brilliant dashcam fireball videos help scientists find 3 meteorites in Slovenia

By Meghan Bartels published

By diligently tracing dashcam footage from a particularly spectacular fireball seen over central Europe in February 2020, a team of scientists hit pay dirt on three fragments of space rock.

The first "Fountain of Tolerance," in the Italian village of Fontecchio, offers the opportunity to become a human-alien hybrid, via the ingestion of meteorite-infused water.

Art project creates 'human-alien hybrids' with meteorite-infused water

By Mike Wall published

The water flowing from a medieval fountain in the Italian village of Fontecchio bubbles with extraterrestrial effervescence.