Answers To The Question: What Are Meteor Showers
METEORS SHOWERS – In this article, we will learn more about what meteor showers are and what they signify.
An event of celestial magnitudes, meteor showers are some of the most amazing things you could ever see. The best part about these showers is that you don’t need telescopes to enjoy it.
The only thing you need is an alarm clock to wake you up in the middle of the night. You could also add a nice warm sleeping bag, lying down in your own backyard.
So what exactly are meteor showers then? A meteor is a space rock or meteoroid. These rocks are visible once they enter our planet’s atmosphere.
The resistance or drag the rock creates as it enters our atmosphere makes it extremely hot. As that happens, people on the earth see that rock as a “shooting star”.
The bright streak that you see is not actually the rock, but rather the hot air glowing brightly as the meteoroid passes through our atmosphere. When the earth gets many meteoroids at once, we call that a “meteor shower”.
So how does Earth encounter many meteoroids at once? Well, according to NASA, comets also orbit the sun, much like Earth and other planets. However, their orbit is usually lop-sided.
As a comet nears the sun, it’s icy surfaces boils off. This releases particles of dust and rocks.
The debris gets blasted along the comet’s path, oftentimes in our inner solar system where we live. That is why several times each year, as our planet goes around the sun, it’s orbit crosses the orbit of a comet.
But not to worry because meteoroids are often small. They are always small enough to burn up as it reaches our atmosphere.
There is very little chance that a meteoroid hits the surface of the Earth. However, there is a good chance that you would see a spectacular shooting star show in the middle of the night.
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