* Constellations are patterns of stars. These stars are distant suns, fixed in their relative positions over incredibly long timescales.
* Meteors are fleeting streaks of light. They are caused by tiny particles of dust and rock burning up in Earth's atmosphere, not stars. They appear randomly across the sky and last only a few seconds.
Think of it this way: A constellation is like a permanent picture in the sky, while a shooting star is like a firework briefly illuminating the night. They are two entirely different things.
However, sometimes meteor showers occur, where many meteors appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. This point is often near a constellation, leading to the misconception that meteors are part of the constellation. For example, the Perseid meteor shower appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus. But remember, the meteors themselves are not stars in Perseus; they are just particles passing through Earth's atmosphere.
