the vapor of a comet (see Molina); or, a shooting star (see Sahagún)
Mitoa: amo nenquiça, amo nēuetzi, in itlamjnaliz: tlaocuillotia. Auh in tlamintli, mitoa: citlalmjnqui, ocuillo = It was said that the passing of a shooting star rose and fell neither without purpose nor in vain. It brought a worm to something. And of [the animal] wounded by a shooting star, they said; "It hath been wounded by a shooting star; it hath received a worm." Such an animal could not be eaten; it was feared and shunned. People were also subject to this malady; they wrapped themselves in clothing our of fear of the shooting star.
For a visible association between a worm and stars, see the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglylphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, OR: Wired Humanities Project, 2020–present): https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/content/citlalocuilin-fcbk11f105v.