Meteoroids are small, rocky bodies drifting through space. They are smaller than an asteroid, but at least as big as specks of dust. Some meteoroids may be fragments made by collisions between asteroids. Others may be what is left of old comets. Still others may be material left over from the formation of the solar system. Space is full of meteoroids. Most of them are smaller than a pebble.
Some meteoroids are captured by Earth's gravity. Then they fall toward Earth with great speed. As a meteoroid passes through the air the friction causes it to burn. Meteoroids that enter Earth's atmosphere are called meteors, or shooting stars. They blaze brightly as they streak across the sky. Almost
