Meteor showers by LAUREN JERDON

What are the lights that can be seen shooting through the night sky? Are they shooting stars or maybe U.F.Os? Some of them are actually meteors. A meteor is a piece of space debris that starts burning up as it enters Earth’s atmosphere. When high concentrations of meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere, it is called a meteor shower. Meteor showers are when Earth travels through a concentrated area of space debris such as a comet’s dust tail. The debris in the dust tail then creates a streak of light as it burns up. Earth travels through the same space debris every year which is why astronomers are able to predict when a certain meteor shower is visible. Many people go outside to observe these meteor showers. Often, the best place to observe them are in the darkest areas possible, away from lights, and where there is minimal light from the moon. When viewing these meteor showers, it may take at least 30 minutes for your to adjust to the darkness before you will be able to achieve the best view.

There are many different meteor showers. They appear to emanate from constellations, which is where their names originate. For instance, the Perseid meteor shower appears to originate from the constellation Perseus.

Perseids is a meteor shower that is visible in the month of August. This meteor shower happens yearly when Earth passes through the comet Swift-Tuttle's dust tail. Swift-Tuttle’s nucleus is about 16 miles wide. As Earth passes through the densest part of the comet's tail, you will be able to see more meteors per hour. Perseid is remembered for its bright and fast meteors. Many people consider this meteor shower to be the best meteor shower of the year. On average, Perseids produces 80 meteors per hour, but, in certain years, there can be up to 150 to 200 meteors per hour which can travel up to 133,200 miles per hour.

Geminid is a meteor shower that is visible in the month of December. This meteor shower also happens yearly, but it is caused when the Earth passes through the asteroid 3200 Phaethon’s tail. This is one of the only two meteor showers that does not originate from a comet’s dust tail. In order to see meteors with longer tails, look slightly away from the constellation Gemini. You will still see meteors by looking at Gemini directly, but they will have shorter tails. This meteor shower was first discovered in 1833. Currently Geminids produces 120-160 meteors per hours under the best conditions but, according to astronomers, it is growing to stronger and stronger every year. This is due to Jupiter pulling the asteroid 3200 phaeton closer to Earth.

Orionids is a meteor shower that is visible in the month of October. This meteor shower happens yearly also and is seen when Earth passes through the tail of Halley’s Comet. These meteors can travel up to 148,000 miles per hour. It is named from Orion the constellation (the hunter). If you see the constellation Orion look toward the shape of his sword. This is where to find the brightest meteors with the longest tails. It is believed by many people that the brighter meteors are fragments that reach the ground but this is not true with Orionids. These tiny comet fragments are the size of a grain of sand and burn up before reaching the Earth.

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