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Annual Light
Show: Meteor Showers: |
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Also known as
“shooting stars,” meteors are brilliant flashes of light in the
night sky that appear to be falling. As they rip through the
atmosphere, the heat generated disintegrates the meteors before
they can hit Earth. If a meteor does manage to hit solid ground,
it becomes a meteorite.
Forecast: Showers Ahead
What exactly is a meteor? It’s cosmic debris entering the
Earth’s atmosphere. As a dust particle, it is known as a
meteoroid. Once it ignites, the particle becomes a meteor. And
when there are several falling at once, it becomes a meteor
shower.
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Meteoroids originate from comets. When a comet nears the Sun, it
leaves behind a debris field that remains in orbit. As Earth
makes its annual trek around the Sun, it passes through this
debris field, whereby the field’s dust particles enter Earth’s
atmosphere.
Because Earth’s orbit is the same each year, annual events like
the Perseid Meteor Shower (August 12) and Leonid Meteor Shower
(November 17) can be accurately predicted.
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Showers and Their
Comets: |
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Each year,
stargazers look to the sky in the early and late fall to catch a
glimpse of a spectacular light show. If conditions are clear,
these meteor showers put on a display that outdoes any fireworks
show.
As said, meteor showers are the result of comets and their own
orbiting paths. The Perseid Meteor Shower’s comet for instance
is the Comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits near Uranus; yet its
stream stretches all the way out to Earth. This meteor shower
typically produces one meteor every minute.
The “King of Meteor Showers” however is the Leonid Meteor
Shower, which is most visible around mid-November. Its comet is
the Comet Tempel-Tuttle and observance of the shower dates back
to 1833. In fact, seeing the Leonids on the nights of November
12-13, 1833, is what gave birth to meteor astronomy! |
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