Why Do Stars Fall? And Do They Really Fall?
Why Do Stars Fall? And Do They Really Fall?
At night, you can sometimes see stars falling from the sky. Everyone knows the superstition associated with this phenomenon: if you see a falling star, you should make a wish while it is falling. It is believed that in this case, the wish will definitely come true. But do stars really fall? And why does this happen? Let's answer these questions step by step.
So, what people take for falling stars are actually relatively small rocks flying from space. They are called meteors. These are what we mistakenly think are stars...
As these rocks approach our planet, they collide with Earth's atmosphere and heat up so much that they begin to glow like stars. Before they reach Earth, they burn up and extinguish.
In cases where a part of a meteor does reach the surface of the Earth, it is called a meteorite. Very bright meteors are called fireballs.
Hundreds of millions of such meteors can form in Earth's atmosphere daily. Their total mass amounts to thousands of tons per day.
Besides meteors, about 100 tons of dust particles also fall to Earth daily. However, they are too small to cause visible meteors.
Throughout the year, there are certain days when meteors appear in the sky much more frequently than usual. During these times, you can observe dozens of thousands of meteors falling per hour. Scientists call this phenomenon a meteor shower, and it is commonly known as a star shower.
Astronomers have found that meteor showers occur when our planet Earth intersects with dust particles formed from the disintegration of a comet. When a comet approaches the Sun, it heats up from the Sun's rays and loses material. Over several centuries, these particles, influenced by the gravitational pull of the planets, form an elongated swarm (like a swarm of mosquitoes) along the comet's orbit. When Earth crosses this stream, we can observe a star shower annually.
| 
