Let's start with the fact that stars don't fall. Yes, yes, the smallest known star is several times more than Earth. Can you imagine what would happen if it fell on our horizon? Stars explode when the time comes, but they are too far away to be observed.

What then falls? Meteorites. What do we usually see as a shooting star? Meteor.

Yes, these are completely different things, although both of these words refer to meteoroids.

Now that you're completely confused, let's sort it out!

A lonely stone was flying in space - a meteoroid. It was flying, hit an obstacle, broke into pieces - and some of them went into earth's atmosphere and fell somewhere. They are already called meteorites. So, for example, there was Chelyabinsk meteorite. At the moment when space rocks enter the atmosphere, the upper layer burns due to the incoming oxygen - this phenomenon is called a meteor.

Thus, meteors are not the celestial bodies themselves, but... the “tails” of meteoroids (and meteorites, if meteoroids fell to Earth). It is impossible to see the meteoroid itself in space, but its trace - the meteor - is quite possible.

When the stars fall from the sky

A meteor shower, in turn, is the mass passage of our atmosphere by a swarm of meteoroids. They move in orbits, just like our planet. And when these orbits intersect, we see “shooting stars.”

To date, 64 of these flows have been registered and named (according to some sources - 65), several hundred more are awaiting calculation and confirmation.

Here are just some of the names of meteor showers that you have probably heard: Quadrantids, Perseids, Lyrids, Arietids, Orionids. Many of them are named after the constellation near which their orbit passes.

As we see, falling stars are not stars at all, but meteoroids, and more often than not falling, but flying by. Are they dangerous? As a rule, no, unless we are talking about a celestial body the size of the Tunguska meteorite, which intends to land directly on our planet. What is the essence of shooting stars? Not every stone will reach the middle of the Galaxy. Should you make a wish on them? Decide for yourself, there’s definitely nothing wrong with that!

As soon as we see a shooting star, we immediately make a wish. But do stars really fall? And what would happen if this happened? Is such a phenomenon possible in zero gravity conditions?

In fact, this is just a beautiful expression that does not reflect reality at all. In such cases, we see that it is caused by meteorite showers entering the atmosphere. Most often, the phenomenon can be observed from August 12 to August 14 annually in the northern latitudes of our country. Meteor shower called Perseid.

Why is this happening?

Do stars really fall? No, what we see in the sky are just meteoroids, asteroids and other meteoroids burning in the atmosphere. Meteoroids that did not collapse when entering the Earth’s atmosphere and flew to the surface are already called meteorites. Flight marks in the sky can be observed for several seconds or minutes.

Comets circle around the Sun, leaving behind a trail of fragments, which over time group and transform into meteor showers. When the Earth intersects with such flows, then a “starfall” appears.

What are stars?

Stars are balls of light and gas. The closest star to Earth is the Sun. Other space objects are far enough away that, looking at the sky, we see small luminous points. If we compare the sizes of the Earth and the Sun, then our planet is more like a speck of dust in relation to the Sun, which in diameter is 696.342 thousand kilometers (error - 65 kilometers). And the Earth is only 12,742 kilometers in diameter. Do stars really fall? It’s even hard to imagine what would happen if the Sun fell on the Earth - it would simply burn out in a matter of seconds.

Difference between cosmic bodies

Meteorites are solids, it could be stone or ice, metal. As a rule, having reached the ground, these space objects are more like peas, but they can also be quite large. Usually they are visible in the sky from Earth.

Objects called asteroids are typically huge, rocky objects that arrive in the orbit of the Earth and Sun from the orbits of Jupiter or Mars.

Comets are ice blocks that can contain ammonia, methane and other chemical compounds. Typically, such objects are surrounded by a “coma,” that is, a cloud-like shell. When a comet approaches the orbit of the Sun, it develops a “tail.”

Why does a trace remain?

Do stars fall to earth? As is already clear - no. But why do space objects glow brightly when they fall? Everything is very simple: a space object is a meteorite, it doesn’t matter whether it’s metal or stone, and in flight, flying through the atmosphere, it heats up to high temperature. And this happens due to friction. By the way, for this reason spaceships there is a special casing so that the rocket itself and the people in it do not burn. Those comets that are large enough may not completely burn up in the atmosphere and reach the Earth's surface.

The most famous cases of meteorite falls

Do stars fall from the sky? No. But meteorites fall. The most interesting cases of falling space objects:

• In 1908, a meteorite fell near the Podkamennaya River, which was later named Tunguska. However, numerous expeditions failed to discover the meteorite, only magnetite and silicate balls of microscopic size. Although the force of the explosion was more than 50 megatons. On an area of ​​about 2 thousand square kilometers, huge trees were uprooted.

• In 1922 in local residents observed the fall of a huge stone, after which a meteor shower began. The remains of space objects were found only 50 years later, with a diameter of 25 kilometers from the supposed site of the meteorite fall; these were 82 chondritic objects. The largest weighed 284 kilograms, and the smallest weighed 50 grams.
• In Namibia you can see the largest space object on Earth - the Goba meteorite. It is actually a block weighing 60 tons, consisting of nickel and iron with a small content of cobalt. But only dinosaurs could see such a unique phenomenon, who probably did not think about the question of whether stars are falling.
• In 1947, a meteor shower occurred in the Primorsky Territory of the Russian Federation (in the village of Beitsukhe), creating several craters over an area of ​​about 35 square kilometers. The largest fragment weighs 23 tons.
• In 1696, a meteorite weighing 5 tons fell in Mexico (Chihuahua). Today it is the most studied space object on the entire planet. By the way, it contains a mineral that does not exist on the planet, and they called it pangite.

And on the Moon, even from Earth you can see traces of meteorite falls - these are the famous craters. Such craters also exist on our planet, but they are covered ocean waters or volcanic ash, or weathered over millions of years.

When can you watch stars fall?

It doesn’t matter whether stars fall to Earth or not, but sometimes you really want to make a wish. If we talk about single space objects, then it is impossible to predict their fall. And large flows can be predicted, especially since it has already been clearly established that such phenomena occur regularly.

The most regular annual shower of cosmic bodies is the Perseids. The phenomenon occurs in the month of August, approximately from the 12th to the 14th. It is associated with the approach of comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the celestial body approaches our planet only once every 135 years. However, the comet's dust plume is visible on Earth every year. Some particles enter the atmosphere.

Forecast for 2018

• In July, from the 28th to the 30th, you can see a whole stream of Aquarids, which can be observed near the constellation Aquarius.
• The Arietids starfall is one of the longest: from May 20 to July 2. However, the peak of activity occurs on June 7th and 8th. If you are wondering whether stars are falling, you will have to get up at sunrise and watch the phenomenon for 30 minutes.
• Residents will be lucky from October 8 to October 10 Northern hemisphere- they will be able to observe the “star rain” called the Draconids. The phenomenon can be seen at night, with approximately 15 stars falling per hour.
• One of the most beautiful phenomena is predicted for the period from October 2 to November 7. The peak occurs on October 20-21. Quite large falling space objects with noticeable traces behind will be visible.

However, do not forget, in order to fully enjoy the amazing phenomenon of falling space objects, it is better to go outside the city limits, where high-rise buildings will not interfere, and the sky will be completely open to view.

We've all made wishes more than once when we saw shooting stars. But have you ever thought about where they fall? What will happen to the constellations if one of the stars falls? And what makes stars fall if there is weightlessness in space?

What are the stars

To begin with, it is worth deciding what we mean by stars. If we talk in simple language, stars are massive glowing balls of gas. The closest star to us is the Sun. All other objects of this kind are significantly removed from our planet, which is why they appear in the sky not as huge luminaries, but only as small white dots.

Why do stars fall

Let's start with the most important thing, namely that stars don't fall at all. Objects falling from the sky are not stars at all and are just burning up in the atmosphere meteoroids(remains of comets and asteroids). The process of burning a meteoroid is called meteor, while meteoroids that do not burn up in the atmosphere and reach the Earth’s surface are called meteorites. The meteor trail usually disappears in a matter of seconds, but can sometimes remain for as long as minutes and even be moved by the wind.

As we have already said, meteoroids are most often the remnants of comets. As you know, comets circle the Sun and leave a trail of fragments along the entire length of their orbit. These fragments group together and form meteor showers. When crossing the Earth with such a flow, we see a “starfall”.

Intersection of the Earth's orbit with the orbit of a comet

When can you watch stars fall?

The fall of single meteoroids is a completely common occurrence, which is almost impossible to predict. But we are quite capable of predicting the intersection of the Earth with a large meteor shower, especially since this event repeats itself from year to year. Below we offer you a schedule of the largest star falls.

We strongly recommend that you take a closer look at the Perseids and Geminids. The frequency of “falling stars” when crossing these meteor showers can be several hundred per hour, and in terms of the number of especially bright “falling stars” no other meteor shower can compare with them.

Some of you do not know the old superstition. On a clear night, a bright star rolls down from the dark sky, which means “someone has died.” This superstition arose at a time when people did not yet have any clear idea of ​​the sky. It was believed that the sky was a solid blue vault resting on the Earth. And to this solid sky are attached a kind of small lamps - stars. Each person supposedly has his own star in the sky; it lights up with his birth and “falls” with his death.

The days of such ignorant ideas about the sky and stars are over. We now know that every star is a huge celestial body, often many times larger than our Sun. And it is absurd to think that along with the birth of people on Earth, huge celestial bodies appear in the universe. Of course, there is no connection between human life and the stars.

In reality, “falling stars do not exist either. And in fact, every evening we watch how tens and hundreds of “stars” “fall” from the sky, and at the same time all the constellations in the sky remain unchanged. What is the matter here? And the fact is that the so-called “falling stars” have no connection with real stars. They are just small grains of matter that fly into the atmosphere from outer space. Scientific name“falling stars” - meteors.

Currently, science has established that in the world interstellar space Many small solid particles are rushing in different directions - small stones and blocks, large and small specks of dust. Often these particles meet the Earth and fly into our atmosphere at tremendous speed (tens of kilometers per second). At an altitude of 150-120 kilometers above the Earth's surface, the meteoroid body begins to experience air resistance; a kind of compressed air “cushion” forms in front of it. Meteor particles of matter become very hot and turn into gases, on average already at an altitude of 130-60 kilometers above the earth's surface.

The particles of matter that give rise to meteors mostly weigh fractions of a gram.

At times in the sky you can observe not individual “falling stars”, but a whole “rain of stars” (Fig. 24). Of course, there is no miracle here either. This celestial phenomenon is observed when the Earth meets on its path not with individual meteoric particles, but with entire swarms of these small particles. They are often the remains of previous comets. Every moment during this time, dozens of fiery meteors are observed. A memorable spectacle for a long time!

Such a large “star shower” was observed, for example, in October 1933, as well as in October 1946.

Meteor showers also occur, as we have already said, when the Earth collides with a comet nucleus. For this reason, there was a particularly bright “rain” in 1885 during a new meeting of the Earth with the remnants of Comet Biela.

Rice. 24. Star rain (ancient drawing).

In past centuries, superstitious people associated the phenomenon of “star showers” ​​with events on earth and considered them a harbinger of bad things. Without knowing the reasons for this unusual phenomenon, not knowing how to explain it, people believed “once again” absurd inventions.

Now we know not only the cause of this phenomenon, but we can also predict the time of occurrence of meteor showers.

"rains" in the future. It is known that every year the Earth encounters the same clusters of meteoroids on its way around the Sun in certain months. For example, every year on August 9-14, the Earth encounters a swarm of meteor particles. On these days, weak “star showers” ​​are observed annually.

At the same time, it seems to us from the Earth that a stream of meteorosis flies out, as it were, from the constellation Perseus. That's why the annual August meteors are called Perseids. The Perseids have been observed for over 1000 years!

There are meteor showers that produce abundant “star showers” ​​only once every few decades. This is the stream of meteors emerging from the constellation Leo - Leonids (from the word leo - lion). The Leonids give abundant “star showers” ​​once every 33 years. Previously, the Leonid fallout was described by historians and chroniclers as outlandish “heavenly visions.” In China they were noted more than 3,700 years ago.

Brilliant “star showers” ​​are sometimes produced by April meteors (April 19-22), emerging from the Lyra-Lyrid constellation. The last such “rain” of the Lyrid was in April 1952.

How wonderful are the warm nights at the end of summer. The smells of forbs and sun-mellowed earth can be heard in the air. The bright tails of stars falling from the sky continually streak the inky space with flashes.

From time to time, nature arranges this “star show” especially for romantics who believe that the most cherished desires when stars fall to the ground.

Do stars really fall?

Fortunately, stars don't actually fall during a meteor shower. More precisely, they, in principle, can fall, but it will look completely different. In any case, what we periodically observe in the sky in the summer has nothing to do with these astronomical objects.

A star is a giant blob of hot gas. Its dimensions are very large. The star closest to us, the Sun, is a medium-sized celestial body. However, it can accommodate several volumes of planet Earth. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if objects of this size fell onto our planet from time to time.

Scientists explain that a star, in principle, can “fall”, for example, into a black hole or even onto a planet. Only the spectacle that we are accustomed to calling a starfall has a completely different astronomical nature. And it is incorrect to call this phenomenon a “shooting star.” It’s just that this name has been formed since those ancient times when people knew very little about space.

What astronomical phenomenon do we mistake for a falling star?

Something is constantly changing in space, stars are born and die, planets appear and disappear, comets move and collapse. And all that remains from this " building material" rushes through the Universe at enormous speed, periodically “settling” on the surface celestial bodies.

This accumulation of “garbage” consists of both completely invisible particles - cosmic dust, and quite large objects - meteoroids. Once in the layers of the earth's atmosphere, as a result of friction, they heat up to such an extent that they begin to glow. Therefore, we see a bright flash in the sky, which we mistake for the tail of a “falling” star.

What is star shower?

When large comets disintegrate, a large accumulation of particles of different sizes is often formed, which is called a swarm of meteoric bodies. Due to the force of gravity, they continue to “rush” behind their former “home” throughout space in the form of a kind of “trail”.

If our planet, in the process of its movement, intersects with the trajectory of one of these “trails,” then we can observe a meteor shower, a meteor shower, or, as it is also called, a shower of stars in the sky.

What is the difference between meteors and meteorites?

Meteoroids are usually fragments of asteroids and other large celestial bodies. Most often, when they enter the earth's atmosphere, they burn up. This astronomical phenomenon is called "meteors". Those meteoroids that did not burn up in the atmosphere and still flew to the surface of the Earth are called “meteorites.”

Meteorites can vary in size. The weight of the largest that scientists were able to discover is about 60 tons. The first mention of a meteorite falling from the sky dates back to the times ancient Rome, in 467 BC. It was recorded by ancient Roman historians.

What time of year is the best time to watch starfalls?

The Earth intersects with meteor swarms with a certain periodicity. Each of them is named in accordance with the constellation in which the “point of departure” of these particles is located (it is called the radiant). From Earth they appear to be directed from a single point, but this is only optical illusion. In fact, the particles fly in parallel. The illusion is explained by the enormous distance.

There are meteor showers: Aquarid, Leonid, Perseid and others. One of the most powerful and spectacular is the Perseid shower, which can be observed annually in the summer in the northern latitudes of the Eurasian continent. The Earth passes through it for a whole month, during which time tens of thousands of meteors fly by per hour. But the peak occurs from August 12 to 14.

The Perseids belong to comet Swift-Tuttle. It itself approaches the Earth no more often than once every century and a half, but our planet encounters its trail of dust particles every year.

In addition to the Perseids, there are several other meteor showers that repeat annually. They occur at different times of the year, but not all of them end in star showers. The most spectacular of them include the Taurids and Orionids, which can be enjoyed in October and the first half of November, as well as the Leonids and Geminids, which occur in November and December, respectively.

Young men in love can be advised to carefully study the schedule of starfalls and the forecast of their intensity. This new knowledge can be successfully used to organize the most impressive date. What could be more romantic than showing a girl a shooting star and giving her the opportunity to make a wish?

Video: why do stars fall and how does it happen?