SHOOTING STARS
The UK-China Leonid Meteor Shower
Observation Project

Continued...

"What about the ones that move, Mummy?"

"You may see coloured flashing lights moving quite slowly. These aren't stars at all, but airplane lights. Some people mistake these for flying saucers. If you are lucky, you may see something that looks like a star, but which is moving even slower in a dead straight line across the sky. This may be a satellite, or even a Long March rocket. These are in orbit around the earth, and are millions of times closer to us than the stars.

Very rarely, you may see a COMET, which is made of ice and rocky dust. This looks like a hazy patch in the sky. It can start off dim, then it gets brighter, and develops a long shining tail. This is dust and gas blown off from the surface of the comet by the wind of the Sun. Some of these ice and dust particles stick together. Every now and again, the Earth passes through these clumps, and the dust particles speed into our atmosphere. They heat up as they hit the air and glow white hot. This is how we get SHOOTING STARS or METEORS.

When lots of meteors hit the air, it is called a "meteor shower". At certain times of the year, there are regular meteor showers. To tell one shower from another, we look at the area of the sky they seem to come from, and if they seem to come from a point in a particular constellation, we name them after that constellation. In November we are due to see a shower called the "LEONIDS", because it seems to come from the constellation of LEO. The time when you see most meteors in a shower is called the MAXIMUM.
 

"But all that is another story, Bing Bing. I'll tell you tomorrow." for little panda had fallen asleep in her mother's paws.

Next evening Bing Bing was excited because her mother had promised to continue the story and take her back to the forest glade to watch for shooting stars.

It was very dark when they sat down on the grass. Overhead the Milky Way sparkled like a river in the sunlight. Other stars and planets glowed like tiny gems. They lay back and looked up.

"That's right!" said her mother. "Wait, and we may see another. In fact, tonight we may see the best shower of meteors for a long time."

As the night progressed Bing Bing and her mother saw more and more meteors, until at one time, hundreds were crossing the sky all at the same moment.

Image: NASA

"Yes, they all come from near Leo's head." said her mother.

After an hour or so the meteors began to subside and once again Bing-Bing was sleepy. She lay down in the soft grass and drifted into dreams....

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