Shooting stars, or meteors, are the brilliant flashes of light produced when cosmic debris like enter Earth's atmosphere at extreme speeds—up to 100,000 miles per hour. While they appear as "stars" falling from the heavens, they are actually fragments of comets or asteroids that vaporize due to friction with the air. On the rare occasion that a fragment survives the journey to reach the surface, it is known as a meteorite . Current Celestial Events & Viewing Meteors and Meteorites: Facts - NASA Science