Meteor

A meteor is a kind of stone that falls from the sky. The ancient Greeks believed that the stones were Zeus's thunderbolts. A famous quote by Thomas Jefferson:

"I would sooner believe that two Yankee professors lied, than that stones fell from the sky."[1]

A major source of meteors lies between Mars and Jupiter, it is an enormous cluster of meteors, also known as an asteroid belt. Other meteor belts and clouds exist. It is the Earth's passing through these belt and clouds that causes periodic meteor showers such as the Perseiids, Geminids, and Taurids.

Earth, however, never passes through the belt between between Mars and Jupiter or the Kuiper Belt which lies just outside of our solar system. Meteoroids from those belts break free and may collide with Earth.

There are currently several hundred known asteroids, called Apollo asteroids, that are in Earth-crossing orbits.

Strictly speaking, "meteors" are stones that are falling through the sky (aka "fireballs"). If a meteor hits the ground, it becomes known as a meteorite However, not many people bother to make this technical distinction.

If a meteor enters Earth's atmosphere, it is often referred to as a "shooting star" or "falling star".