bolide

A rocky fragment of extraterrestrial origin that swiftly crosses the atmosphere, generating a very bright luminous trace as it passes. Sometimes the meteoroid can fragment and give rise to one or more explosions. The intense light it emits is due to the state of incandescence it undergoes, as it passes through increasingly dense layers of air, increasing its friction with the gaseous medium. This type of object, like meteorites or the small rock and ice fragments of cometary origin that give rise to shooting stars, are not of an atmospheric nature, so they are not the subject of study of Meteorology, but of Astronomy.