Do you know that shooting stars are not actually stars? 

What do you do as soon as you see a falling star? You make a wish! But is a falling star or a shooting star really a star? Does a real star actually break away and fall? No, none of that is true. What seems to be a shooting star to you falling from the sky, is actually a meteor. Let’s understand the science behind falling stars.  

Not a star 
A "falling star" or a "shooting star" has nothing at all to do with a star! Then what is it? This beautiful streak of light you sometimes spot in the night sky is caused by tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the Earth's atmosphere and burning up. The burning meteoroid leaves a trail of light called a meteor which disappears as fast as it appeared. When you think that it is a falling star it is actually this meteor that you see. If any part of the meteoroid survives after burning and hits the Earth, that remaining bit is called a meteorite. 

At certain times of the year, you see many falling stars i.e meteors. When this happens, it is called meteor shower. But what causes such showers? These showers occur when our planet passes through the trail of debris left by a comet. Astronomers call different meteor showers by different names based on the constellation present in the sky from which they appear to originate. For example, the Leonid Meteor Shower, or Leonids, appears to originate in the constellation Leo. 

Does that mean that the meteoroids (and therefore the meteors) originate from the constellations or any of the stars in the constellations? No. They just appear to come from that part of the sky because of the way the Earth encounters the particles moving in the path of the comet’s orbit. Then why name the meteors after the constellation? Because associating the name of the shower with the region of the sky they seem to come from just helps astronomers know where to look. 

Naming of shooting stars 
But why are meteors called shooting stars? Most of them occur in mesosphere, which is about 50-80 km above the Earth's surface. They enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a very high speed and once they enter, the tiny specks of dust rub together with the Earth’s air particles causing friction, heating the specks of dust and burning the meteor. Since a bright tail of light is left behind as a meteor passes through the sky, it is called a shooting star.  

Wishing upon a star: A sign of good luck 
Where did the practice of wishing upon a shooting star come from? Well, no one knows for sure. But we still make a wish as soon as we see one. This is may be because stars have been linked with divine powers since early ages and wishing on a star is like offering prayers. It could also be because of the fact that it is actually a challenge to make a wish in such a small time and one who is able to do it is lucky to have done it!