When an asteroid or a comet collides with another, they break into small pieces. These pieces are called meteoroids. When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere at a high speed, it burns up due to friction with air particles. The meteoroid vapourises and turns into a meteor. Meteors are made of dust and ice. Despite being called shooting stars, they are not stars.
As the Earth travels around the Sun, it may come into contact with the pieces of debris (meteoroid) shed by a disintegrating comet or asteroid that had crosses its orbit. the meteoroid, usually the size of coffee granules, streams into our atmosphere.
The particles (meteors) burn up due to gases in our atmosphere, leaving a bright streak of light in the sky. When many of them enter the atmosphere within a short duration, you get to witness a shower of meteors.
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