meteors

Most of it is in the form of teeny dust particles which burn up in our atmosphere, what we call meteors (or shooting stars, but doesn't "meteor" sound more sciencey?).

WordPress.com News 2008

I went outside and saw 6-7 meteors from the Perseid meteor shower.

/ oh I, I never saw it coming / tragic_elegance 2009

You mean Jesus didn't slay the Muslims during the Crusades while riding bareback on a dinosaur and calling down meteors from the sky with his magic shepherd's staff?

Palin calls for Obama to boycott climate change conference 2009

There is probably enough free iron in meteors scattered about the surface to take care of many of the initial needs of an outpost.

Why the Moon? Here's Why. - NASA Watch 2009

 Suddenly, glowing meteors from the MLJ Nebula rain down in Riverdale, including one that crashes into the shop and morphs into a door to other dimensions!

Archie Comics Sneak Peek for the Week of November 11, 2009 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009

Below these, again, we find masses varying from a few tons in weight down to only a few pounds or ounces, and these when we see them, which is not often, we call meteors or shooting-stars; and to the size of these meteorites there would appear to be no limit: some may be literal grains of dust.

Pioneers of Science Oliver Lodge 1895

They are usually called meteors when luminous by contact with air, 120.

Recreations in Astronomy With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work Henry White Warren 1871

Writers may be classified as meteors, planets and fixed stars.

The Art of Literature 2004

Again, and briefly, there are also in existence small bodies called meteors, which are said to exist by myriads, which float in space, and circle round the sun.

Aether and Gravitation William George Hooper

He thought at first of declaring to them that the Great Spirit was pleased with the expedition, and was lighting the band on its way with spirit lamps; or that the meteors were the spirits of departed braves, coming to assist their worldly brothers in another impending fight; but he was not sanguine enough of possible results to indulge in any attractive oratory.

The Great Salt Lake Trail Henry Inman 1868