A falling star is a brief and bright white light that you may see on the sky. It looks like a quick flash of light. You might wonder what a shooting star is and how it forms when you see this beautiful sight.
All about the SHOOTING STAR
A falling star is a streak of light that you may see on the sky. It looks like a white flash that lasts for a moment. But, what is a shooting star and how does it form? That is what you might wonder when you witness this beautiful sight.
What Is A Shooting Star?
Stars have their own orbits and positions in space. But, a shooting star is a small piece of debris that burns up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
A shooting star starts as red when it approaches the Earth. Then it turns white and finally blue when it reaches the atmosphere. Shooting stars last for only a few seconds on the sky.
Different cultures and civilizations have their own stories to explain the meaning of shooting stars. In ancient India, people believe that they can make a wish when they see a shooting star and it will come true. The Greeks believed that shooting stars were either good or bad signs. In Christian tradition, shooting stars were linked to the death of St. Lawrence.
How does a shooting star form?
Shooting stars are actually broken meteors and asteroids. Meteors are as small as grains of sand. Some are bigger and are called meteorites. Meteors can range in size from tiny dust particles to large rocks up to 10 metres across.
Meteor shower happens when dust particles from comets enter the Earth’s atmosphere. These dust particles travel very fast between 11 km/sec to 72 km/sec.
When these dust particles enter the atmosphere, they rub against the air and create friction. This friction heats up the meteors and makes them vaporize. This is how shooting stars are formed. The meteoroid burns up at over 1500 degree Celsius.
