Legend has it that to wish upon a shooting star will grant a person their wish. Despite the myths and the misleading name, shooting stars or falling stars are neither magical nor stars. Rather meteors produced by small fragments of cosmic debris, typically from comets. Nonetheless, the fascination people have over the astral light has been around for centuries. On an average night it is typical to see a few sporadic meteors per hour. However, the amazing spectral of meteor showers refers to the brief period of increased meteor activity that occurs at particular times of the year. The creation of meteor showers can best be understood by looking at the fundamental characteristics of meteoroids as well as the orbits of both the Earth and comets.
Meteor showers refer to the observable celestial event of increased meteor activity occurring from one point in the sky. Streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids, most of which are “smaller than a grain of sand” and composed of a “fluffy conglomerate of material” called a “dustball” (American Meteor Society), almost always disintegrate as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The visible flash of light people see is caused by the “high level of kinetic energy” (Kronk) produced by the meteoroid’s collision with air molecules. This excites a column of atmospheric atoms along its path. Meteoroids can enter the Earth’s atmosphere at speeds ranging from “11 km/sec (25,000 mph) to 72 km/sec (160,000 mph)” (American Meteor Society), depending on their relation to Earth’s rotation. Escape velocity can be used to calculate the fastest speed at which a meteoroid enters the atmosphere (Stehman). The equation to the right shows the mathematical steps for calculating the fastest speed a meteoroid can trave...
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...se exponentially until finally returning to the “normal sporadic level” (American Meteor Society). Thus, the Earth’s orbit in relation to the comet’s orbit effects the rate of visible meteors over a span of several days.
Overall, annual meteor showers continue to be spectacular sights to see. Research has revealed the important characteristics that make these events visible on an annual basis. It is now understood that the composition and velocity of meteoroids, as well as the relationship between the Earth and the comet’s orbit, play important roles in making these events visible over a span of several days. They not only affect the brightness of the meteors, but the rate at which they occur. However, despite the extensive information that has been obtained on meteoroids and meteor showers, the legend behind the ‘shooting star’ will continue on for centuries.
However, asteroids are much more deadly. If over-sized meteor can wreck buildings and injure people, then a normal sized asteroid can easily wipe out species if it lands in the right place. As mentioned before, asteroids are much bigger than meteor and much more rare. According to the “Mail Online” 12,000 years ago some type of asteroid slammed into the Northern Canada and some scientist believe that wiped off the mammoths and caused the “Younger Dryas”. Another famous event of asteroids striking, that many scientist believe, was around 65 million years ago asteroids rained and killed of all the dinosaurs 75% of all the life on earth.
Appears in Preprints, 18 th AMS Conf. Severe Local Storms (San Francisco, CA), 19-23 February 1996, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 471-473. Typos and other minor problems have been fixed in this Web version.
A comet is a small icy body that travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun. Halley’s Comet, or 1P/Halley, is the most well-known “periodic” comet that orbits the solar system and returns to Earth’s vicinity approximately every seventy-six years. It is one of the only comets that can be seen from Earth that is visible to the naked-eye, and can appear twice in one’s lifetime. The comet’s last visit was in the year 1986, and it is calculated to return mid-2061.
There are two meteor showers associated with Perseus—the Perseids and the September Perseids. The Perseid meteor shower is the most impressive one. It is visible in August, and the Perseus constellation is its radiant point. (Perseus Champion, Perseus Constellation, Perseus He-ro)
Halley's comet has come back to earth at the strangest times.Halley arrived at the beginning of the battle of hastings in 1066! A man named Mark Twain predicted that sense he was born 2 weeks after the comet he would die with it
More than 50 years after the publication of Astronomiae Pars Optica, another man was carrying on Kepler’s work in the field of optics....
The extraterrestrial impact theory is that scientists have found logical evidence for if there was a large asteroid. The biggest point of evidence for it being an asteroid was that there was a 150 kilometer wide crater that was found off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula. Scientists calculated that the asteroid or comet was traveling at 30 kilometers per second. For months, scientists concluded that after the impact, clouds of dust blocked the sun and cooled the Earth to a deadly level for plants, and inturn many animals. After the dust settled, greenhouse gasses created a smolder...
Ever wonder what the atmosphere consists of? What's it made out of, what type of weather patterns are there, what does a hurricane look like, or other natural phenomenon's of today's weather ? Well America, hopefully now we can! Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and the effects it has on our weather. Climatology focuses on how atmospheric changes alter the world’s climates, aeronomy is the study of the upper parts of the atmosphere. Meteorology focuses on the lower parts of the atmosphere, primarily the troposphere, where most weather takes place. It has been released that under the supervision of NASA, President Dwight D Eisenhower and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) that they have launched a satellite called TIROS 1 out of Cape Canaveral, Florida that will observe, record, and transmit data back to headquarters. The first ever weather satellite has arrived and with much hope will change weather prediction for the future.
Comets and asteroids. They are some of the first celestial bodies that humans observed and truly thought about. From ancient cultures interpreting these near-Earth objects as signs of disaster, to 18th century Europeans studying their paths, to even the extinction of the dinosaurs, comets and asteroids have always been prevalent in the majority of Earth’s history. These objects have intrigued the human race for generations, and continue to do so today. These similar subjects of fascination have many unique and interesting characteristics and a rich history with Earth.
A few weeks back we had read a short story by H.G. Wells called “The Star.” This story is about the anticipation and consequences of a comet or “star” collision with Earth. On its way through the solar system, the comet also struck other planets. A mathematician after studying the occurrence makes a few predictions about how the encounter with the star will be fatal for Earth and its inhabitants. Some of these predictions were ice in Greenland melting, colder English winters and typhoons in the Pacific. Despite the catastrophes and chaos, Earth manages to survive. Even though a mathematician made the predictions, there is not much of a scientific base behind them.
My clock’s hour hand hovered somewhere around the 11 P.M. mark, and my parents, brother, and sister had all already tucked in for the night. Rumour had it that the meteor shower was going to be at it’s brightest and most vivid at around 2 A.M., and I was determined to wait it out. Reclining comfortably on my bed, I kept one eye constantly on the clock while texting every friend who appeared to be awake at that hour. Eventually, even they soon clocked out, leaving me truly alone to wait. It still wasn’t quite 2 A.M. yet, and all this waiting around bored me immensely. The time ticked slowly, steadily onward, while I kept myself entertained playing games on my phone. When I finally tore my eyes from the screen and to the clock, it was already half-past two. Fearing that I may have missed the meteor shower in its entirety, I rushed as quickly and quietly as I could force myself to manage, through my house and out the back door into the backyard. I turned my head to the skies and stared expectantly. There were stars alright, yup. They were certainly pretty. But I hadn’t stayed awake for hours on end for some stars that I had already seen thrice over. I scanned every corner of the night sky for anything that might resemble a flying space rock, but found none. I realized that if I wanted a glimpse of those meteors, I would need to wait some more. Though the prospect of having to wait even further disheartened me, I
Tyler, Pat. Supernova. NASA’s Heasarc: Education and Public Information. 26 Jan. 2003. 22 Nov. 2004
Ever since the beginning of time there have been stars. Not only stars in the sky, but moons, planets, and even galaxies! Astronomy is defined as the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. In other words it is the study of space, planets, and stars. Throughout the ages, many people have used astronomy to help them learn about the universe, our own planet, and even make predictions about life itself. Understanding astronomy means understanding where it originated, the different groups/cultures that used it, and modern purposes of the science of the stars.
One thing us as humans have never been able to fully understand is astronomy. Always having an unexplained mystery, astronomy also has served as a way to keep time and predict the future. The word “astronomy” is defined as the study of heavenly bodies, meaning anything in the sky such as stars, galaxies, comets, planets, nebulae, and so on. Many people, if not everyone, is amazed by the night sky on a clear, moonless night.