Posts Tagged ‘heavenly body’

Shooting Stars – A Very Poor Omen Or A Thing Of Beauty

There is something very peculiar about watching a shooting star, as the effect it has on people greatly varies from individual to individual and from culture to culture. The understanding of the shooting star in different parts of the world is both varied and suggestive. Thus, westerners commonly make a wish when they see a falling star, while in other parts of the globe, any shooting star tells people that someone has passed away. Yet, although we give all sorts of explanations to such sky events, they have a very reasonable and easy to understand scientific background.

Beautiful and great as a shooting star may be, it is just a false star. Click over here for more info on zodiac compatability

A shooting star is a meteoroid, or some form of debris that falls on Earth and gets on fire at the entrance in the atmosphere. The friction of the air masses, the ram pressure and the presence of the oxygen associated with the high velocity of the meteoroid cause the resemblance with a star. Thus, the shooting star often doesn’t even get to touch the ground as it burns completely in the atmosphere. Big-sized meteoroids may not burn completely and they fall on the making smaller or larger craters. This time they are called meteors.

Scientists can identify the chemical structure of a shooting star by observing the light specter during the descent as well as the trajectory through the atmosphere. Though noticeable with the naked eye on the dark night sky only, meteoroids and meteors also fall during the day, but this time they are detected only by radio signals, with the sunlight preventing their observation otherwise. Thus, scientists have concluded that the weight and structure of a shooting star can vary a lot from snowball lightness to metal heaviness. A very unusual phenomenon is that of a shooting star that passes through just a sector of the atmosphere without burning completely before resuming its journey in outer space. You will find complimentary invaluable information on zodiac compatability here.

 

A shooting star with a high burning intensity is called a fireball and the measurements result from comparing the light intensity of the meteor with the light normally reflected by a planet. As beautiful as it may look, a shooting star has a huge destructive potential if it is not totally burned during the flight through the atmosphere. Past collisions proved devastating for ecosystems, with vegetation and animal losses; if such a shooting star fell in a city, the effect would be that of a bomb attack, with a higher or lower destructive force depending on the size of the meteor. You can gain heaps of complementary invaluable information about horoscopes compatibility here.