Every single day, Earth gets pelted by more than 20 million meteoroids. That's right—millions of space rocks screaming into our atmosphere at speeds up to 160,000 mph. And yet, you probably didn't notice a single one this morning.

The reason? Most of these celestial visitors are incredibly tiny. We're talking dust-sized particles, smaller than a grain of sand. When they hit Earth's atmosphere, friction with air molecules heats them to thousands of degrees, causing them to vaporize in brilliant streaks we call meteors or "shooting stars."

Where Does It All Come From?

This daily cosmic bombardment comes from various sources scattered throughout our solar system:

Comet debris: As comets orbit the Sun, they shed material that Earth plows through
Asteroid fragments: Collisions in the asteroid belt create countless tiny particles
Interplanetary dust: General space debris floating between planets

In total, Earth accumulates about 48.5 tons of space material every day. That's roughly the weight of seven elephants worth of cosmic dust settling onto our planet daily.

Do Any Actually Make It to the Ground?

Of those 20+ million daily visitors, only about 17 meteorites per day are large enough to survive the fiery descent and reach Earth's surface. The vast majority fall into oceans or uninhabited areas, which is why you've probably never stumbled across one.

The ones that do make it are typically pea-sized or smaller by the time they land. Larger meteorites are rare events—the kind that make headlines when they're found.

During meteor showers like the Perseids or Geminids, Earth passes through particularly dense streams of cometary debris. On those nights, you might see dozens of visible meteors per hour instead of the usual handful. But even then, those dramatic streaks represent only a tiny fraction of the millions of particles burning up overhead.

So the next time you see a shooting star, remember: you're watching one lucky meteoroid out of millions that got bright enough for human eyes to catch its final, spectacular moment.

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