Whenever we see a shooting star, the first thing we do is wish for something. Did you know that the “shooting stars” we see in the sky are not actually stars. Yes, you read that right. According to science, the stars we see in the night do not break apart like we think, but they tend to explode. So, the shooting stars we see are not stars, but they are just meteors. These are simply celestial rocks that burn when it enters the earth’s atmosphere, and what we see are referred to as shooting stars. When a meteor comes into the earth’s atmosphere, it starts to experience friction, the result is that it starts burning. Meteoroids are the remains or the debris left by a comet, which itself is made up of rock, frozen gases and dust. It is called a comet’s trail.
Whenever our planet passes from a comet’s trail, a number of meteoroids enter the atmosphere with high speed, burn, and become meteors. This occurrence causes a phenomenon called the meteor shower, and it lights up the night sky. The NASA website says that scientists have estimated around 48.5 tonnes of meteoric debris that falls on the earth daily.
These meteor showers are named after the constellations they appear closest to. As per the reports, the most famous shower is known as Perseids, which are seen in August every year. The meteoroids of this shower belong to a comet called Swift-Tuttle, which passes the sun every 235 years. It is the largest known celestial object that passes by our planet, and the last it passed close to us was in 1992. Now, according to more information, it is next going to pass earth in the year 2126.
According to the reports, the Perseids shower is going to be in its peak on the night of August 12, and before the dawn of August 13, this year.
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