What is the Perseid Meteor Shower?

What is a Meteor Shower?

• A meteor is a space rock that comes into Earth's atmosphere.
• As it falls, the air makes it really hot because of the friction.
• The bright streak we see is not the rock itself, but the hot air around it.
• When many space rocks hit the atmosphere over Earth together, we call it a meteor shower.
• These meteors travel at incredible speeds, reaching tens of thousands of kilometers per hour before disintegrating due to the intense heat generated by friction with the atmosphere.

About Perseid Meteor Shower

• It is one of the most popular and well-known meteor showers that occurs annually.
• It usually takes place in August, specifically around August 11th to 13th, with its peak occurring around August 12th.
• These meteors are fast and bright, leaving trails of light and color behind them as they move through the sky.
• During the Perseids, you can see around 50 to 100 meteors every hour.
• They usually show up when the weather is warm and the nights are comfortable for watching the sky.
• The Perseids are special because they often generate fireballs.
• Fireballs are big bursts of light and color that last longer than a regular shooting star.
• This happens because fireballs come from larger pieces of material from comets.

Q1) What is the All-Sky Fireball Network?

The All-Sky Fireball Network is a system of cameras and observatories designed to detect and track bright meteors, also known as fireballs, as they enter Earth's atmosphere. This network is established to monitor the skies and collect data on these meteoric events, which can provide valuable insights into the composition, origin, and behavior of these objects.