Shooting Stars

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

vanishing sparks like darts of light, seen at frequent intervals on clear, moonless nights. Shooting stars are supposed to be small aerolites, possibly mere grains of dust that are fused and converted into luminous gas on striking our atmosphere. One eminent author has estimated that over 10,000,000 shooting "stars" enter our atmosphere daily. They are most numerous in the morning hours. They fall at all hours, but, of course, those that fall during the daytime cannot be seen. Sometimes a shooting star is as bright as a regular star of the first magnitude. Large ones leave trains of luminous gas behind them, which are sometimes visible for several minutes before they are wafted away by air currents. Attempts have been made to get their ashes, but with no certainty of success. It is assumed that their material is the same as that of meteors which reach the earth. Without doubt, meteors and shooting stars are falling into the sun, adding to its heat. It is estimated that they bring the earth as much heat annually as the sun gives it in about one-tenth of a second. They also add to the mass of the earth, depositing, it is thought, an inch over the entire earth's surface in about 800,000,000 years. Sometimes brilliant displays of shooting stars occur. At such a time many thousands, possibly millions, of points of light enter our atmosphere in a few minutes or hours. Such displays are called meteoric showers. They are most likely to occur about the middle of November or in August. Astronomers say that the shooting stars we meet are of a bluish green tint, with bright trains, while those that overtake the earth are reddish with only feeble light, the difference being due to the speed with which they enter our atmosphere. So far as known, only one meteor has fallen during a meteoric shower. See Meteor; Comet