26.6.12

METEOR SHOWER

What Is A Meteor Shower?
          Meteor showers are caused by debris from a comet burning up in our atmosphere. These small fragments of cosmic debris enter the Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed, with the friction producing spectacular shooting stars which blaze across the night sky. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which they appear.

Why Do Meteor Showers Happen?
         When comets pass through space, they leave behind a trail of dust and ice. If the Earth then crosses this trail, these comet fragments will burn up in our atmosphere. From the ground, we see them as jets of bright light, shooting across the sky. The Earth follows the same path around the Sun every year. So it always crosses a comet trail at the same point in its orbit, and we see meteor showers at the same time every year.

Type Of Meteor Showers:      

          There are two kinds of meteors- sporadic meteors and shower meteors. Sporadic meteors originate from random bits of solar system dust than orbit the Sun. Their chance encounters with Earth are unpredictable. Shower meteors come from the dust released by comets as they travel through our solar system. Meteor showers that touch the ground are called meteorites. Because meteors move across the sky so fast, there is no point in trying to see them through a telescope. All you need to do is look up at the right part of the sky.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments Will Be Highly Appreciated.. :)