Meteors

Shooting Stars Objects in space move very quickly compared to the earth. Any object entering the earth’s atmosphere from space will heat up and glow. These bright objects streak across the sky as meteors. atmosphere earth meteor

Fireballs Any meteor brighter than Venus is called a fireball. If the meteor explodes as well as burns it is a bolide. Meteors (and fireballs) are tracked by the American Meteor Society.American Meteor Society

Meteor Showers Many times each year meteors will arrive in a group Rates reach hundreds per hour. Seen from space they all move in the same direction. This is called a meteor shower. Gary W. Cronks Comets and Meteor Showers

Ground View In the 1800’s astromers realized that all the meteors from a single shower came from a single point among the stars. This was consistent with a shower hitting the earth in the same direction.

Radiant The point that meteors originate from is called the radiant. A shower is named for the constellation in which it appears to originate.

Repeating Showers Some meteor showers recur at regular intervals. Astronomers recognized that this was consistent with a predictable orbit. Orbit of the Leonids

Comet Dust The Leonid orbit matches comet Tempel-Tuttle. Other showers are also due to comets. As the earth passes through the orbit of a comet, debris left by the comet enters the atmosphere.

Meteor Storms As comets pass the sun they can leave a large amount of debris. If the earth hits this debris it can generate 1000’s of meteors per hour. This is called a meteor storm. next