Meteoroids have many sources. Most meteoroids come from asteroids that are broken apart by impacts with other asteroids. Other meteoroids come from the Moon from comets and from the planet Mars . A meteor is a meteoroid that has entered the Earth's atmosphere , usually making a fiery trail as it falls. It is sometimes called a shooting star or a falling star .
Most meteors burn up before hitting the Earth .
Only large meteors can survive the trip through our atmosphere. A meteor shower is a phenomenon in which many meteors fall through the atmosphere in a relatively short time and in approximately parallel trajectories. A very intense meteor shower is called a meteor storm. A meteorite is a meteor that has fallen to Earth. These objects have survived a fiery fall through the Earth's atmosphere and have lost a lot of mass during that process.