ἐκπίπτοντες (ἐκπέσοντες) ἀστέρες

Meteors appear differently: there are rather bright ones (fireballs) that looks like flying objects with varying colours and possibly even smoky outlets distributed by the wind, but there are also tiny meteors that can appear like silently droping from the heavenly background. These tiny meteors are faint and the human eye cannot distinguish colours. They are not even seen to burst at the end of the appearance. Therefore, they may leave the impression of heavenly tear drops or of tiny stars falling down.