• Question: what is a shooting star????

    Asked by 835tntd32 to Monique, Ashley, Bernard, Carsten, MariaMagdalena on 17 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by Zahra, Mudassara.
    • Photo: Monique Henson

      Monique Henson answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      A shooting star (or a meteor) is the bright streak in the sky that we see when a rock from space (a meteroid) hits the Earth’s atmosphere. When a meteroid hits the Earth’s atmosphere its kinetic energy (the energy it moves with) is converted into heat and it heats up. This heat causes it to glow and leave a trail of glowing smaller bits of rock, dust and debris in its wake.

      Have you ever seen one? If not, there are lots of opportunities to. This website lists the meteor showers taking place this year and if you follow the links it will tell you the best days to look for them.

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