Are meteor showers regular? What is the phenomenon of a meteor shower

Each meteor shower is active at a specific time of the year. For example, the Perseid meteor shower is at its peak on August 12 every year, which is my birthday. So every year on my birthday, I will pay attention to the weather forecast, is it on the mountain? Or is it to celebrate at home?

There are more than a dozen relatively large meteor shower events every year, and the dates are also specific. For example, the Quadrant on January 3, the Lyra on April 22, the Aquarius Ita on May 6, the Aquariids at the end of July, the Perseids on August 12, the Ooo on September 1, the Draco on October 8, the Orion on October 21, the number on November 17, and the Gemini ...... on December 13This year, every year.

All in all, there are rumors on the Internet that meteor showers cannot be predicted, and those who say this do not understand meteor showers (for example, the friend upstairs hit the muzzle of the gun, hehe For the average enthusiast, these specific dates are familiar by heart, and they will decide whether to observe it as long as they look at the moon phase. However, the specific intensity also needs to be tested by professional institutional forecasts, especially meteor showers with vastly varying flows, such as lions and dragons.

Yes, meteor showers are periodic in time and have the same period as parent comets (and some are asteroids) (meteor showers are mostly broken by parent comets), like the Quadrantids, Leonids, Geminids, Perseids, and many other meteor showers will visit Earth at a specific time every year, and the time is basically the same every time, so we can observe this celestial phenomenon at the same time every year.

Not necessarily, it depends on the celestial phenomena.

Hundreds or even thousands of years.

A meteor shower is an astronomical phenomenon in which many meteors are emitted from a so-called radiant in the sky in the night sky. These meteors are fragments of the universe known as meteoroids that are projected into the Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds as they orbit in parallel orbits.

Most meteoroids are smaller than gravel, so almost all meteoroids will be destroyed in the atmosphere and will not hit the Earth's surface. Debris that is capable of hitting the Earth's surface is called a meteorite.

Meteor showers that are particularly large or unusually behave are known as "meteor protrusions" or "meteor bursts" and can produce more than 1,000 meteors per hour.

As of December 31, 2020, the International Astronomical Bureau (IAA) has classified meteors into 24 meteor groups, 112 confirmed meteor showers, 1 waiting meteor shower, and 722 common meteor showers.

1. Meteor shower refers to the fact that comets will lose a lot of material and produce a large number of meteoroids in the process of approaching the sun. When the Earth meets these meteoroids, people will see a significant increase in the number of meteors in a certain celestial area. This is what we call a meteor showerWhen a meteor shower occurs, the occurrence rate of meteors is usually a dozen to dozens per hour, but in the event of a meteor storm, the occurrence rate of meteors can be as high as thousands or even tens of thousands per hour.

2. There is a difference between this and a meteor, which refers to the light trail produced by a meteoroid in space or an asteroid breaking into the earth's atmosphere and rubbing and burning with the atmosphere.

The first and most exciting astronomical phenomenon of 2006 was the Quadrantids.

Active period of meteor showers: January 1 to 5.

Peak meteor shower season: 18:20 international time on 3 January, 2:20 HKT on 4 January.

Peak period (ZHR value): 120 meteors per hour.

This wonderful meteor shower will delight observers in the Northern Hemisphere this year. Although the weather may be cold, it is also worth seeing to be able to make a wish on a winter night. January 4th.

Wednesday) late at night when you look north of the zenith, and it's easy to spot meteors. This time, at the peak of the time, 2-3 hours in the middle of the night on January 4 in Hong Kong, if the surrounding area is empty, there is no light pollution, and it is expected to be visible every minute.

2 shooting stars. The moon was crescent on December 31, 2005, and at the beginning of January, it set in the west very early at dusk, which is very favorable for meteor shower observation.

The shower's radiant is at the head of the constellation Pasturius, which rises northeast at around 10 p.m. and has not sunset until daylight. At 2 to 3 o'clock in the evening, the sign of Shepherd was already high in the sky. Just look northeast of the zenith to see the meteor shower radiant.

Quadrant is a constellation from the previous one, but this constellation has since been canceled, so you won't find this constellation on the star chart. It is located approximately halfway between the constellations Pastoral and Dracon.

This meteor shower is nearly a decade old by the International Meteor Organization (IMO).

The values of this meteor shower are based on the values observed in 1992 and have been confirmed by radio waves since 1996 and later. The peak of this meteor shower usually lasts for a short period of time, so it is easy to miss the sight of this meteor shower if there are passing clouds, which is why there is a chance to change when the peak is observed each year. However, there are occasional exceptions, such as the two-hour peak seen in 1998.

A more complex reason is that the radio-wave telescope may be detecting faint meteor material, which is mistaken for the peak, while the visible meteor material may not be seen until 14 hours after the meteors. So there will be a miscalculation of the peak period. Since 2000, there have been peak periods that are 9-12 hours slower than the ** time.

If you don't know how to watch the meteor shower, you don't have to be afraid, because the meteor shower has a wide range, and as long as you look at the area, it is easy to see the meteor. However, as winter nights can be cold, it is important to remember to wear multiple clothes and consider whether the stargazing area is safe and comfortable.

Among the various interesting astronomical phenomena, the meteor shower phenomenon is extremely beautiful and spectacular. When it appears, thousands of meteors are like shining ribbons across the night sky, which is very beautiful. So, how exactly are meteor showers formed?

It turns out that in the solar system, in addition to planets, moons, and comets, there are also many materials such as dust, ice masses, and star fragments. The material that wanders in the space of the solar system is called meteoroids. When meteoroids pass near the Earth and occasionally fly through the Earth's atmosphere, friction is generated, which causes heat to burn up, so it looks like stars have fallen from the sky.

Some of the large pieces, before they were burned, fell to the ground and became meteorites or meteorites. When the number of meteoroids increases significantly over a period of a few hours or days, many meteors are formed, sometimes even like rain, and people call this phenomenon "meteor showers".

Among the various meteor phenomena, the most beautiful and spectacular is the meteor shower phenomenon. When it appears, thousands of meteors are like shining ribbons. A meteor shower is a special celestial phenomenon in which a swarm of meteors appears to come in and fall from a point in the sky.

This point, or a small area of the sky, is called the radiant of the meteor shower. A radiant is a perspective effect. The root cause of the formation of meteor showers is due to the fragmentation of comets.

Comets are mostly made up of ice and dust. As the comet moves closer to the Sun, the ice vaporizes, causing dust particles to be ejected out of the parent body and into the comet's orbit like fountain water. However, large particles remain around the parent comet to form dust comets; The small particles are blown away by the radiation pressure of the sun, forming a comet tail.

The remaining material continues to remain in the vicinity of the comet's orbit. However, even small eruption velocities can cause very different periods of particle rotation. Thus, on the next comet return, the small particles will lag behind the parent body, while the large particles will be ahead of the parent body.

As the Earth passes through the dust tail orbit, we have a chance to see a meteor shower. Meteor shower activity cycle: The dust grains located in the comet's orbit are called five clouds"Meteor swarms"。

When meteoroid particles are just ejected from a comet, their distribution is relatively planned. Due to the gravitational pull of the large planet, these particles are gradually dispersed throughout the comet's orbit. At the moment, this process is not very clear.

As the Earth passes through the meteoroid swarm, various forms of meteor showers are possible. Every year the Earth passes through the orbits of many comets. If meteoroid particles are present in orbit, periodic meteor showers can occur.

A meteor shower that occurs when only the parent comet has orbited to perihelion is called a near-comet meteor shower. This indicates that the meteoroid population is still in the vicinity of the comet. Comets with periods of less than a few hundred years are more likely to form meteor showers of this type.

Due to the gravitational perturbation of the planets, the meteoroid body group of a long-period comet may be very different from that of the parent comet. Meteor showers can also occur when the parent comet is not at perihelion, and this type of meteor shower is known as a far-comatose meteor shower. To distinguish meteor showers from different directions, meteor showers are usually named after the constellation of the celestial region where the meteor radiant is located.

For example, the meteor shower radiant that appears around November 17 every year is in the constellation Leo, and it is named the Leonid meteor shower. Other meteor showers are the Aquariids, Orions, Perseids, etc. Some meteors appear individually, randomly in direction and time, and do not have any radiant points to speak of, such meteors are called occasional meteors.

Meteor showers are fundamentally different from occasional meteors. Sometimes only a few meteors appear in an hour, but they all appear to be from the same radiant"Outflow", and therefore also falls under the category of meteor showers; Sometimes, in a short period of time, thousands of meteors can burst out from the same radiant, just like the fireworks set off at a festival. When the number of meteors that appear per hour exceeds 1000, we call them"Meteor storms"。