What are shooting stars?

A shooting star is like a tiny rock from space that zooms past Earth and burns up in the sky.

Imagine you're playing catch with your friend in the backyard. The ball comes flying toward you, and as it moves fast through the air, it gets warm, maybe even hot enough to glow red or white for a second before it hits your hands. That’s kind of what happens with shooting stars.

A shooting star is actually a small piece of rock from a comet or an asteroid that's floating in space. When this tiny rock enters Earth’s atmosphere, it moves super fast, faster than a race car!

As it zips through the air, friction (like when you rub your hands together really fast) makes it heat up. This heat lights it up, and we see it as a bright streak across the sky, that's your shooting star!

Even though they’re not real stars, they look like ones because of how bright and quick they are. Just like when you flick a light switch on in a dark room, a shooting star is like a flash of light from space, fast, bright, and sometimes even colorful!