Meteor shower (english script version)

 

Lapli meteò | Meteor shower | Pluie de météores

We keep hearing about «meteor showers» on the Internet and elsewhere.

Well, what about the meteor shower? What's a meteor shower? Well, today Captain Astro will quickly explain what this phenomenon is.

We ear about shower, and you think it will be stuff falling down on us? No, man! Listen,...

In our solar system, we know there are 8 planets, but there are also other things, such as comets;

These objects made of a lot of ice mixed with rocks usually occur in the interior of the solar system.

They are very far away, in the orbit of the planet Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto, and in an area with many comets astronomers call the Oort cloud.

When these comets make their way to the Sun, they cross paths with Earth'sorbit.

Attention, I'm not saying they intersect with the Earth, I'm saying they intersect with the Earth's path, because they pass through the orbit of our planet; As these objects. called comets, begin to melt as they get closer to the Sun, leaving some small pieces of ice and pebbles on their way as they enter deeper into the solar system.

So, even if they go, what they leave on their way remains completely. So when the Earth comes to pass on its way, do not forget that it is its orbit, it intersects with the debris that the comet left. And these debris, pebbles and ice, collided with the planet; they penetrate the atmosphere, and gases in the atmosphere begin to burn them.

We, on Earth, can notice the fire can notice the fire that these debris make when the atmosphere burns them.

Since it is a bunch of small rocks and ice that come in at the same time, astronomers call them meteor showers. Most of them will burn from the top. Some little pieces may not be completely burned and the rest will fall to the ground. Then they are called meteorites. It's like burning pebbles on Earth, you won't even realize it...in general.

Anyway, according to the astronomers' research, it would be 50 tons of rocks that would fall on the Earth every day thanks to this phenomenon of meteor showers.

Well, there's one more thing to know: astronomers map the sky into a series of regions called constellations. Officially there are 88 constellations that cover the entire sky and are used to orient us when we observe the stars or meteors.

We will also tell you that meteors, we also call them shooting stars because of the fire that burns when they enter the atmosphere, as I said recently, they really look like shooting stars on Earth... well now we understand that it is the remnants of comets that have already passed down, but will not actually reach the ground. Since the sky is divided into several regions that bear the name of the constellations, according to the region the astronomers observe the shower of shooting stars, they also bear the name of the constellation with a small "id" behind it; for example if it would emerge from the constellation Perseus, they would call it Perseides; if it would be in the Orion constellation, it would be called Orionide. Etc.

Remember, it's where the comets passed that produced the meteor shower, not in all 88 official constellations; therefore, we can easily count 38 meteor showers. We must also know that the Earth is just passing through its orbit, on its way every day it reaches a special place on the orbit. Today we can make an accurate calendar of where and when it will intersect with such and such debris from such comets.

From then on, astronomers came up with meteor shower calendars.

For example, on mid-August, it is the Perseids meteor shower, especially if you look towards the Perseus constellation on that date, especially on the night of August 12 to 13, where you will see many shooting stars, which is the maximum date, according to how the astronomers call him

Another example is the Geminid meteor shower, because the shooting stars appear from the Gemini constellation in mid-December, especially around December 13 to 14, which is its maximum date, when you can see even 120 shooting stars... a beautiful meteor shower!

Well, we understand, it was an example, because there are many other names for other meteor showers, according to the constellations they appear in, according to where an old comet left the track of the passage on the Earth's orbit.

You can find all the dates of meteor showers on the Internet or in books about astronomical observations. Astronomers manage to make these predictions as precisely as many other astronomical phenomena that occur more or less regularly; This is called celestial mechanics, because the universe works like a well-regulated clock.

Since ancient times, astronomers already knew about this calendar, and some people use it for their own affairs, such as Christophe Colomb in Jamaica in 1492 managed to scare the Indians with an astronomical prediction that came true , and that's how he managed to save his life and all his crew, thanks to a lunar eclipse that was already in the calendar.

Well, you've heard around here, in Haiti, there are guys who say they know how to pull stars down... well, if he has a meteor shower calendar, he can show you what it really is, and if you don't understand the normal phenomenon thas is called shooting star or the meteor shower, you can be caught in the lie... and well, today you can understand how they do it.

I'm Captain Astro, don't forget I'm here to explain astronomy in Creole. Do not hesitate to ask questions wherever you find information on social network, or call or text me on +50938407775.

See you soon.

P.S.:

Here is a list of some meteor showers with their period, date of maximum, and their constellation of origin:

1. **Perseids**

    - Period: July 17 - August 24

    - Maximum date: August 12-13

    - Home constellation: Perseus (RA: 3h 04m, Dec: +58°)

2. **Geminids**

    - Period: December 7 - 17

    - Maximum date: December 13-14

    - Home constellation: Gemini (RA: 7h 35m, Dec: +32°)

3. **Quadrantids**

    - Period: January 1 - 5

    - Maximum date: January 3-4

    - Home constellation: Bouvier (RA: 15h 18m, Dec: +49°)

4. **Leonids**

    - Period: November 6 - 30

    - Maximum date: November 17-18

    - Home constellation: Leo (RA: 10h 08m, Dec: +21°)

5. **Orionids**

    - Period: October 2 - November 7

    - Maximum date: October 21-22

    - Home constellation: Orion (RA: 5h 32m, Dec: +15°)

This information may vary slightly from year to year, and there are many other smaller meteor showers. If you need more specific details or other information, don't hesitate to ask!