Meteors

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Meteors Meteor Showers
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The Differences

• Meteoroid, Meteorite, Meteor???
• Meteoroid- small, solid body moving within the
  solar system.
• Meteorite- solid remains of a meteor that falls
  to the Earth.
• Meteor- (shooting star)- bright trail of light
  created by small solid particles entering the
  Earths atmosphere burning up

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Meteor Facts

• Meteors (meteoroids) are the debris associated
  with comets or asteroids
• When a meteoroid enters the Earths atmosphere
  becomes a meteor, it is traveling at 60-70 km per
  second!
• On a given night (with favorable conditions), you
  can see 1 meteor every 15 minutes
• The typical size of a meteor that produces a
  visible streak of light ranges from about the
  size of a grain of sand to the size of a small
  pebble! (average weight is only around 1 gram!)
• Fireballs (large, brilliant meteors) are
  periodically seen (these may weigh up to several
  kilograms or more). Bolides are fireballs that
  explode with a thunderous sound.
• See for yourself
• http//www.spaceweather.com/meteors/images/18nov01
  /varros1_movie.gif (Fireball)
• http//www.spaceweather.com/meteors/images/18nov01
  _page3/Ponder1.MPG (Bolide)

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Why do meteors have a streak of light??

• As they travel through our atmosphere, meteors
  collide with air molecules that knock away
  materials and strip electrons from the meteor
• When the stripped atoms recapture electrons,
  light is emitted
• The color of the light depends on the temperature
  and the material being excited.

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Are all meteors the same color??

• The material or element that makes up a meteor is
  the main factor that determines the color of its
  glowing trail
• - Sodium orange-yellow
• - Iron yellow
• - Magnesium blue-green
• - Calcium violet
• - Silicon red

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Sporadic Meteors

• These are the meteors that can be seen on any
  given night
• They are not associated with any particular
  meteor shower
• They come from random directions in the sky

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Meteor Showers

• Heavy displays of meteors that recur from year to
  year
• Caused by small fragments of comet debris
  entering the earths atmosphere at extremely high
  speedswhen the Earths orbit the comets orbit
  intersect at some point
• Shower meteors come from the same general point
  in the sky
• The radiant of a shower is the point in the sky
  from which the meteors appear to come

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Meteor Showers (cont.)

• Meteor showers are usually named for the
  constellation in which their radiant lies at the
  peak of the shower
• Ex. Perseid shower Perseus
• Ex. Leonid shower Leo
• Ex. Geminid shower Gemini

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Specific Meteor Showers

• Meteor showers occur on a regular basis
  throughout the year, but not all are visible in
  the northern latitudes some are very weak and
  easily go unnoticed
• Some of the more impressive showers throughout a
  given year are
• Shower Avg. Peak
• - Quadrantids early January
• - Lyrids mid April
• - Perseids early/mid August
• - Orionids mid/late October
• - Leonids mid November
• - Geminids mid December
• Historically, the Perseids in August the
  Leonids in November have been the most impressive
  meteor showers - http//www.spaceweather.com/meteo
  rs/images/18nov01_page3/cordiale1.mov

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Thats All
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3 Questions

• 1. True/False The material or element that makes
  up a meteor is the main factor that determines
  the color of the glowing trail left behind
• True
• 2. This major meteor shower has a peak time
  around early/mid August
• a. Geminids b. Leonids
• c. Orionids d. Perseids
• d. Perseids
• 3. What is the point in the sky from which all of
  the meteors seem to come during a shower called?
• Radiant

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References

• http//csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/meteors/sh
  owers.html
• http//www.sky-watch.com/meteor.html
• http//hometown.aol.com/theleonids/
• http//www.geocities.com/starwanderer/meteor.htm
• http//www.meteorobs.org/showers.html
• http//www.amsmeteors.org/showers.html

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