At the end of almost every summer, you can enjoy an unusually beautiful spectacle - a plentiful starfall, when the sky at night is illuminated by luminous paths. Sometimes these are single "footprints", sometimes it's a real fiery rain. In especially "harvest" years, many people specially go to night festivities to admire this spectacle. Lovers kiss in the light of Romance, quietly thrilled by the sight of the colored sky, poets write poetry. What is another name for shooting stars?

Superstitions and legends

The most famous and used sign: when you see a shooting star, you need to make a wish. I managed before it went out - the desire will come true. If you didn’t have time, either you don’t need it, or you don’t really want it.

A much less well-known myth, to which religious people are more inclined: a shooting star is an angel who carries the soul of a newborn.

The ancient Greeks believed that the shooting star was a divine spear or arrow directed against the forces of evil. For the Slavs, she personified death, for the Scandinavians - the soul that people and gods forgave, for Muslims - a strong and vicious enemy.

scientific explanation

Meanwhile, even older students have long known that a star cannot fall. It is a huge ball of gas of unimaginable temperature. And if at least one such star crashes to Earth, there will probably be no dust left from the latter. So what do scientists call shooting stars?

In fact, a colorful trace in the sky is left by a stone that has entered the uppermost layers of the earth's atmosphere. From friction with air, it heats up and begins to glow. Here's how. In another way, shooting stars are called "meteors" if they are small in size and burn out completely at a distance of eight to ten dozen kilometers, still in the atmosphere. Some meteors are so small that without binoculars, or even a telescope, it is impossible to see their path.

What is another name for shooting stars, the “fragments” of which reach the ground? They are large and most enter the atmosphere relatively slowly, allowing the air to slow them down. It looks like a meteorite that rushes through the sky with a roar and roar, and after falling leaves a crater on the surface. I must say that "stones" of this size, and even flying into at the right angle and at the appropriate speed, are quite rare, so the fall of each of them is imprinted in human memory for a long time (the same Tunguska or the one that fell in Africa).

Sources of shooting stars

Individual meteorites are found at any time of the year. This is due to the fact that some random was captured by the magnetic field of our (and any other) planet. Massive meteorite attacks are another matter (as shooting stars are called differently, we have already found out).

Astronomers have accurately established that showers of shooting stars only give rise to comets. This cosmic phenomenon itself is contained in a solid body (usually ice, but there are also stone variants; although even ice comets contain solid inclusions). When the comet approaches the star, the temperature of which goes off scale, the ice evaporates, taking with it the solid components of the nucleus. The tail is made up of microscopic dust particles carried away by what is called the "solar wind". Larger (and therefore heavier) pebbles are beyond the power of the wind. As a result, they create a donut around, called the "torus" by astronomers. And if the specified bagel falls into the planet's gravity field, we have star rain.

Starfall as a phenomenon

There are two noteworthy meteor showers. One of them is called the Leonids, the other the Perseids, by name from which they optically emanate. The first of them delight with waterfalls of stars after many years, but the second - every summer. This is because the flow of celestial bodies that the Earth collides with also has its age. If he is “young”, the meteor shower will be plentiful, if he has already repeatedly met with our planet (and maybe with others on his way), then his “stone warriors” have already been fairly thinned out.

Why August?

What is most interesting, the August "star showers" regularly come from year to year. Astronomers agree on why stars fall in August and not in another month. They believe that the culprit is the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet, through which the Earth passes at this particular time. What is good about this starfall? Those that are available to anyone do not need any special equipment, and it does not matter where in the world you are. It can be seen well, and this pleases ordinary people, and not just astronomers.

Of course, there are more spectacular showers of stars. For example, the same Perseids promise simply grandiose fireworks! Astronomers are looking forward to it. It is believed that the Earth has not seen a more magnificent starfall (in any case, there is no recorded evidence). But! The promised will have to wait until 2126. It is unlikely that even children born just a day ago will live to this moment. So let's enjoy what is available to us now!

End of every summer marked by a magnificent and unsurpassed event in its beauty: starfall. Everyone can watch it and there is hardly a person who will remain indifferent to this spectacle.

What are the legends about?

Since ancient times, a huge number of signs and superstitions have been associated with the fall of a star. Perhaps even a child knows that when a star falls, you need to make your most cherished wish, and it will certainly come true. An ancient legend says that every person has his own star. It lights up in the sky when a person is born, and after his death, she hurries to fall to the ground and go out. At this moment, she fulfills any desire made by a person. If a person did not have time to make a wish, it means that he does not want something too much, or his wish simply will not come true.

According to another legend, a shooting star is an angel who hurries to Earth to give a soul to a newly born person. The stars meant souls that did not have a body, falling to the ground, they gained it.

In ancient times, people believed that the shooting stars are the arrows of the Gods, who are at war with evil forces. Each nation has its own superstitions associated with a shooting star. So, the Muslims personified it with an evil enemy, the Slavs believed that a shooting star means death, and in the Scandinavian countries it was a forgiven soul. In addition, there is a sign that when a person sees a shooting star, he will get sick and will never recover.

scientific point of view

However, science has long known that stars do not fall anywhere. A star is a large ball of hot gas. The size of the stars is several times the size of the Earth, so it's hard to imagine what would happen if hundreds of such balls suddenly fell from the sky and flew in the direction of our planet. However, something definitely falls against the background of a dark sky, and more than one thousand people have already witnessed this most beautiful action.

In fact, what is commonly called a shooting star is just a rock that has crossed the earth's atmosphere. During the flight, it heats up to such a temperature that it begins to glow and leaves a bright streak behind it. After some time, the stone burns down, and its trace disappears without a trace. These stones are named Thousands of such meteors fly through the sky every day. Some stones that could reach the earth are called meteorites. The largest of them fell in Africa, its weight is 60 tons.

Why is it in August that you can observe the largest starfall? The fact is that at this time our planet passes through the area of ​​​​dust particles that it releases. The smallest particles, falling into the Earth's atmosphere, burn out and create the effect of starfall. You can observe this beautiful phenomenon from anywhere in the world, and it is not necessary to have special equipment. The next time the comet will pass near the earth is only in 2126. Until that time, we will be able to observe other starfalls, but, alas, they will not be so bright and impressive.

What is the scientific name for starfall? and got the best answer

Answer from Usignolo[guru]
The scientific name for this phenomenon is a meteor shower.
A meteor shower is a phenomenon that occurs in the planet's atmosphere when it meets a meteor swarm - a compact group of meteoroids moving in close orbits and connected by a common origin.

Some of the meteor showers are quite compact: the main swarm of meteor particles is tens of thousands of kilometers wide. Other meteor showers - usually old ones - stretch almost along their entire orbit, and the width of the stream is measured in tens of millions of kilometers.
Each meteor shower revolves around the Sun with a constant period, and therefore many of them meet the Earth on certain days of the year. On the days of meeting with a meteor shower, the number of meteors increases sharply, and if the meteor swarm is compact, then meteor or "star" showers are observed.
Invading the earth's atmosphere, the particles of the meteor swarm fly along approximately parallel paths, but due to the perspective, the meteors appear to be flying out of a limited area of ​​the sky, called the radiation area. If you mentally extend the flight paths of meteors, then they will intersect within the area of ​​their radiation near a point called the radiant of meteor showers. Meteor showers are named after the constellations in which their radiants are located. For example, the meteor shower generated by Halley's comet and operating in the second half of October is called the Orionids, since the radiant of this meteor shower lies in the constellation of Orion.
The intensity of meteor showers varies from year to year, and depending on the nature of the distribution of meteor particles in the swarm, these changes can be significant. An example is the Leonid meteor showers, which caused "star showers" of great intensity in 1799, 1833 and 1866. , and in 1899 and 1932. practically disappeared. However, in 1966, the intensity of the stream turned out to be truly incredible: in 20 minutes it was possible to observe about 150 thousand meteors (for comparison: the meteor showers of the Quadrantids, Perseids and Geminids generate no more than 50 meteors per hour). varies from year to year, and depending on the nature of the distribution of meteor particles in the swarm, these changes can be significant.
Source: link

Answer from Good Devil[guru]
Meteor shower (star shower, English meteor shower) - a collection of meteors generated by the invasion of the Earth's atmosphere of a swarm of meteoroids.
Most often, a meteor shower of high intensity (up to a thousand meteors per hour) is called a stellar or meteor shower.
Since meteor swarms occupy well-defined orbits in outer space, then, firstly, meteor showers are observed at a strictly defined time of the year, when the Earth passes the intersection point of the orbits of the Earth and the swarm, and secondly, the radiants of the streams are at a strictly defined point in the sky (constellation).
Do not confuse the concepts of meteor shower and meteor shower. If a meteor shower consists of meteors that burn up in the atmosphere and do not reach the earth, then a meteor shower consists of meteorites that fall to the ground. Previously, they did not distinguish the first from the second, and both of these phenomena were called "rain of fire."

Answer from The GamerPro[newbie]
Like all bodies in nature, stars do not remain unchanged, they are born, evolve, and finally "die". Stars are incandescent balls of gas, the source of energy and radiation in which are thermonuclear reactions, mainly the conversion of hydrogen into helium. This process takes place in the center of the star, where the temperature reaches 15 million kelvins (0.01 degrees Celsius corresponds to 273.16 kelvins). All matter at such a temperature and significant pressure is actually in the state of plasma, an ionized gas. The process of a thermonuclear reaction is somewhat different for stars of the mass of the Sun and for more massive ones (heavier elements such as carbon and nitrogen take part in it), however, the result is everywhere the synthesis of a helium nucleus from four hydrogen nuclei during the release of energy. The content of hydrogen by mass in stars of the solar class is approximately 70-75%, the rest is helium and other elements, the content of which usually does not exceed 1.5-2%.
The visible surface of a star is the photosphere. The temperature of the photosphere is related to such a characteristic of the star as the spectral class. There are seven main classes in total: O, B, A, F, G, K, M (plus ten subclasses from 0 to 9). There is also a division into C0-C9 (carbon), S-stars (with ZrO bands in the spectrum) and a few more not often found. O - the hottest with an effective temperature of more than 25000K and have a blue-white color, M - the coldest with an effective temperature of less than 3500K and have a red color. For example, the Sun has class G2 with an effective temperature of about 5700K. The spectral type is associated with the luminosity class of the star, denoted by Roman numerals from Ia and Ib (supergiants) to VII (white dwarfs). Stars are born in the gas and dust clouds of the interstellar medium due to clumps of matter formed as a result of external disturbances, for example, after a supernova explosion. The substance under the action of gravitational forces begins to condense and heat up. When a certain mass of a protostar is reached, the temperature reaches the value at which nuclear reactions begin. The duration of this process depends on the mass. For stars with the mass of the Sun, this takes up to 30 million years, while for more massive stars it takes a hundred times less. It should be noted that for stars with a larger mass, all processes go much faster than for less massive ones. The subsequent stage of the life of a star passes without noticeable external changes for a rather long period (about 10 billion years for stars such as the Sun, and no more than 0.5 billion years for several times larger masses). During this period, the process of burning hydrogen in the core of the star takes place. At the same time, the brightness and size remain constant, since the gravitational forces are balanced by the pressure of the gas inside the star.
The main parameters of stars are mass, radius, luminosity, effective temperature, spectral type, magnitude. It is extremely difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to determine the exact numerical values ​​of some parameters of stars due to their considerable remoteness, therefore, when describing them, relative values ​​are often used, for example, in comparison with the Sun, as a typical main sequence star (which will be discussed later).
Mass is the main parameter that determines the entire evolution of a star, the processes taking place inside it, life expectancy, as well as other parameters at all stages of its existence. The masses of stars are approximately 1/20 to 100 times the mass of the Sun. The lower limit is actually the minimum value of the mass at which, due to gravitational energy, the core of the future star is able to heat up to the temperature at which it is possible to maintain a thermonuclear reaction.
The radii of stars vary over a wider range than the masses. Dwarf stars can have radii 10 times smaller than the sun, while giant stars are 1000 times larger. As a result, shine

The chances of making a wish will increase many times over on the night of August 12-13. The fact is that it is at this time that there will be a myriad of "shooting stars" in the sky. However, you can observe the meteor shower starting from August 9, and it will end exactly in a week, on the 17th.

We asked the director of the Astronomical Observatory named after V.P. Engelhardt, professor of KFU to explain the phenomenon of “shooting stars” Yuri Nefediev:

“The meteor shower that we can easily see with the naked eye in August is nothing more than a Perseid meteor shower. Every year, moving in orbit around the Sun, the Earth at approximately the same time falls into clouds of cosmic dust, which arose as a result of the breakup of comets or asteroids and are located in Earth's orbit. It is believed that the destruction of these celestial bodies occurred under the influence of the gravity of the Sun, temperature differences and the solar wind. Specific "genetic parents" of meteor showers (except for the Perseids, there are many of them) can only be determined approximately. At present, astronomers of Kazan University are working on the genetic connection between celestial bodies and meteor showers. Over the past three years, we have published 4 scientific articles on this topic in the highly rated journal Advances in space research.

It should be said that every day (according to various estimates) from 60 to 400 tons of cosmic dust enters the Earth's atmosphere, most of which settles on the surface of the planet. According to Yuri Anatolyevich, meteors are dust particles weighing about 0.3 grams and up to 1 millimeter in size, which “fly” into the atmosphere of our planet at a high speed, about 30 kilometers per second (with this speed the Earth moves in its orbit and enters dust cloud). Due to friction in the air, meteor particles heat up and burn out in the atmosphere at an altitude of about 80 kilometers, ionizing, in turn, particles of the atmosphere. These ionized particles form the luminous trails that we see as shooting stars.

“If these luminous traces are continued on the celestial sphere in the opposite direction, then the trajectories of all meteors will intersect at approximately one point, which is called the radiant, although directly in space the trajectories of the meteor particles of a certain meteor swarm are parallel to each other,” says the astronomer. - Depending on the constellation in which this radiant is located, the meteor shower also gets its name. In this case, the radiant is located in the constellation Perseus.

Why do we see starfalls so rarely? It's simple: the peak of the intensity of the phenomenon occurs at night, when most people are sleeping. The scientist advises to observe the meteor shower away from the city, the “flare” of which can prevent you from seeing the meteor shower. The intensity of a meteor shower cannot be predicted in advance. In any case, those who go to the country on weekends will win. It is better to admire the beautiful spectacle from one in the morning until dawn, which will begin at 4 hours and 11 minutes.

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Every summer we are accustomed to watching an amazing meteor shower. In August, this meteor shower does not occur by chance, but according to its usual schedule.

general information

You should not think that starfall is some kind of spontaneous event that takes place in the immediate vicinity of our planet without any warning. In fact, any meteor shower passes near the Earth's orbit on schedule, at the same time of the year.

Traditionally, the most memorable phenomenon that occurs in the sky is the Perseid star shower. Most often, the most active phase of this stream occurs between the seventeenth of July and the twenty-fourth of August. It is believed that the Perseids are the most dynamic and spectacular meteor shower, so it is not surprising that almost every year many people are concerned about the question of when the meteor shower will take place.

Quite often, this spectacle coincides with a supermoon. Together, both of these phenomena look unforgettable.

History of the Perseids

The first comet, which became the ancestor of the stream, was the Swift-Tuttle comet, discovered by these two scientists back in 1862. Moreover, the discovery was carried out by them separately from each other almost on the same day. It was for this reason that it was decided to give the comet a double name.

The total period of revolution of a comet around the Sun is one hundred and thirty-five years. The last time it passed near Earth was in 1992. Because of its close proximity to Earth, the comet was the reason for the high activity of the Perseids. As a result, the following year, during the usual meteor shower, scientists noticed an unprecedented number of meteors, at times the total number of these celestial bodies exceeded five hundred pieces per hour.

As the distance from the Sun increases, the number of Perseids decreases every year. Since the late nineties, this spectacle no longer evokes as many emotions as it did before. Scientists have calculated that the next time the comet will pass in close proximity to the Earth only in 2126, respectively, only then will there be an increase in the number of falling meteorites.

The very first mention of meteorites (Perseids) dates back to the thirty-sixth year BC in the Chinese chronicle. In general, this meteor shower is often mentioned in various Chinese, Japanese and Korean annals, up to the nineteenth century. This means that even at that distant time, residents were also interested in the question of when the meteor shower would take place in August. Unfortunately, with past technologies, they were not able to get an accurate answer to this question. While we know in advance what time it will be possible to see the most spectacular starfall.

In Europe, the Perseids were called the "Tears of St. Lawrence" for a long period of time, since the festival in honor of this saint took place at the very peak of the meteor shower.

When will the starfall be?

The maximum of stars falls, as a rule, on the same dates every year. You can admire the starfall on the twelfth and thirteenth of August. The total number of meteors reaches from one hundred to one hundred and ten in one hour, so in the end you will enjoy an unforgettable spectacle.

Particularly attractive is the fact that in order to look at the meteor shower in August, you do not need to purchase any special astrological instruments, since everyone can enjoy this spectacle. It is enough just to get out of the house and find a place where the view of the sky is not blocked by various buildings or trees.

Most often, the main peak of the fall of the Perseids falls on the time period from twelve to fourteen thirty. It is worth remembering that the intensity of this phenomenon can vary significantly from year to year, since everything directly depends on the density of the cloud of particles located in the part of the plume from the comet that our planet crosses.

Where is the best place to watch?

In addition to worrying about when the meteor shower will take place, it is worth taking care of how to look at it correctly. The best option is to find a place away from city lights. It is important that the night you choose is not too lunar, as in such a situation you will have a chance to miss not too bright meteors.

During starfall, it is not necessary to try to look at the same point in the sky all the time. It is best to bring a comfortable reclining chair or regular beach chair with you. This will allow you, without straining, at your pleasure, to survey the entire sky.

Why do we see starfall?

The question "What time will the meteor shower be?" is not correct, because often you have a real opportunity to see these meteorites all night, from the moment they appear on the eastern horizon, and ending with the moment they fill the entire sky.

The Perseids are white meteorites. Stars of other colors are not characteristic of this phenomenon, so they can be attributed to another stream, which is not so noticeable.

The meteor shower in August is due to the fact that the Earth is in a plume of dust particles formed in the tail of a comet. When this object approaches the Sun, the particles begin to heat up, after which they scatter into small pieces of ice. In turn, fragments of a decaying meteorite fall into the earth's atmosphere and burn up in it. During its outburst, these debris are similar to the stars that we see during a meteor shower.

A similar phenomenon can be observed from any part of our planet.

Starfall in August. What time will the next one be?

Meteor showers repeat exactly every year, since their orbits have a common intersection area. Moreover, our planet crosses this area not immediately, but within a few weeks. Therefore, you can enjoy this amazing spectacle at any time for almost a whole month, from the seventeenth of July to the twenty-fourth of August. The exact time at which the meteor shower will be is not called, since it can be seen in almost any period of time.