Shooting Star - Beauty in the sky
If you enjoy stargazing, it’s probably very exciting when you witness a shooting star. If you’re gazing up at the sky on a clear night, you’re almost guaranteed to spot several of them within a half hour. Read more on this page on this site!
A shooting star (which is also known as a meteor) can be thought of basically as grit from space that is colliding at a very high rate of speed with air molecules high up in the sky. Usually, this grit isn’t any bigger than a grain of sand. Sometimes when the shooting star is bigger and pretty spectacular, the grits are the size of a pea and the really stunning and fantastic ones (also very rare) are about the size of an orange or even larger.
As the Earth is rotating, the side that’s facing the direction of the orbit around the sun seems to be the side that runs into more grit. This part of the direction is directly overhead at dawn which is why you’ll have a better chance at seeing a shooting star right before dawn than you would right before sunset. It’s amazing to think that there are millions of these meteors that occur every day, even during daylight hours which obviously we cannot see.
On a typical given night, it’s quite possible to see a shooting star about every 10 minutes or so, but on certain nights of the year, what’s called a “meteor shower” occurs and a shooting star can be seen very few minutes, possibly less. A “meteor storm” is when the space debris falls at an even higher rate per hour.
Other than a shooting star, another fascinating event is the Perseid meteor shower. It is named after the constellation Perseus. It’s named after this because the meteors from this shower appear to almost radiate from that very constellation. It’s really an optical illusion though.
So, all of this said, on the next clear night (without moonlight!) that you have an opportunity at home, grab a blanket and go out in the backyard and get comfortable to gaze up at the sky for a while as you search for them. It’s an even more special experience if you have children or nieces or nephews that you can share it with because watching their faces as they see a shooting star for the first time is unforgettable. Not only will you find that you’ll have fun doing it with them, but it’ll also be an educational experience and they (and you!) might learn something in the process.