Sometimes in the night sky you can observe a beautiful sight, which we call the stargazing. But what is the true nature of this phenomenon?

Do stars fall?

A star in an astronomical concept is a huge hot ball of hot gas, many times larger than our planet. You should not even imagine what the Earth would turn into if one of the stars really decided to fall on it. The star closest to us is the Sun. This is not the largest star in the galaxy, but its size is hundreds of times larger than the parameters of our planet.

What we call shooting stars are meteors that begin to glow as they fly through the atmosphere of the planet. Their luminescence is due to the high speed at which they glow strongly from friction against gases. Hundreds of millions of meteors fly through the atmosphere per day, and only a few reach the earth, becoming meteorites. In the afternoon, sunlight does not allow them to be seen. But at night, when the atmosphere becomes transparent, they are very similar to the stars. Often, a flying star can be observed a bright train. This is an accumulation of gas and the smallest particles of cosmic dust.

Star rains

Sometimes a large number of meteors simultaneously fall into the atmosphere, creating the impression of rain from luminous particles. In astrology, this phenomenon is called "meteor shower." The reason for this is the intersection of the orbits of the planet and a large cluster of cosmic particles, in most cases formed from the remains of a comet.Like all cosmic bodies, these meteor swarms have their orbits. Therefore, their collision with the atmosphere can be observed annually at the same time.

The most spectacular and beautiful star rain falls in mid-August. This meteorite shower, named by Perseid in honor of the constellation Perseus, is the remnant of the tail of the comet Sfivt-Tuttle, which can be seen in the sky every 135 years. There are several dozen other known meteor showers. But they are less intense than Perseid.

The speed of Perseid particles is so huge, on average, about 200 thousand km per second, that their contact with the atmosphere turns into powerful flashes, clearly visible even with the naked eye. The planet enters Perseids in early June, so lone shooting stars are visible throughout the summer. But it is precisely in August that their activity peak occurs, when up to 100 meteors enter the atmosphere at the same time, turning the night sky into an incredible spectacle. It is available only to residents of the northern hemisphere.