The luminous streak produced by a particle in the 2026 Perseid meteor shower is a meteor.
A meteor is the visible flash or trail created when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere at high speed. Perseid particles travel through the atmosphere fast enough to heat and ionize surrounding gas, producing the brief streak commonly called a shooting star.
The terminology changes as the object moves through its journey. Before atmospheric entry, the solid fragment is a meteoroid. The visible atmospheric phenomenon is a meteor. If a surviving piece reaches the ground, it is called a meteorite.
This distinction prevents a common mix-up: Perseid “meteors” are not stars falling from space. They are small cometary particles burning, fragmenting, and vaporizing high above Earth’s surface.