Watching stars in the sky is an unforgettable experience. What could be even better is watching a meteor shower on a clear, dark night. The meteor shower is usually a wonderful show where thousands of streaking light strobes shoot across the sky putting up a beautiful celestial show.

Let’s learn some of the little-known facts about meteors:

Fact 1: A meteor is nothing but tiny, dust particles from outer space that usually enter Earth’s atmosphere at very high speeds producing light.

Fact 2: When the meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they combine with the air particles and create friction.

Fact 3: The meteors are very hot and can reach a temperature of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fact 4: When a meteor strikes the Earth’s atmosphere, due to the friction it produces light that casts a shadow on the Earth which is called a fireball.

Fact 5: The size of meteors can range from a grain of sand to a baseball.

Fact 6: Meteor showers are caused by cosmic debris.

Fact 7: Until recently, more than 24,000 meteorites are reported to have landed on our planet.

Fact 8: A meteor is generally referred to as a phenomenon in the sky. A meteoroid is a tiny particle of cosmic debris in the Milky Way. Once the meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and survives an impact, a meteoroid is then referred to as a meteorite.

Fact 9: There are about nine meteor showers annually. Meteorites often cause injuries and disasters. Some meteor showers are also responsible for climate change. Usually meteorites leaves more than a 1.5 million pounds of dust in their wake.

Fact 10: Meteorites can be bought on ebay. The meteorites originating from Mars can sell for $500 a gram. Other meteorites are usually sold for about $2 a gram.