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| | Meteors |
 | | A meteor, sometimes called a "shooting star," can be the brightest object in the night sky, yet meteoroids are the smallest bodies in the solar system that can be observed by eye. |
 | | Wandering through space, perhaps as debris left behind by a comet, meteoroids enter the earth's atmosphere, are heated by friction, and for a few seconds streak across the sky as a meteor with a glowing trail. |
 | | However, periodically there are meteor showers, with hundreds of meteors emanating from the same apparent spot in the sky. |
| liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov /academy/space/solarsystem/meteors/meteors.html (412 words) |
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