Famous Meteor Showers - How They Happen and When - Literature review Example

Meteor Showers Research Paper Name Institution Name Date Table of Contents Introduction 3 Analysis of Meteor Showers 3 Meteor Shower 3 How they Happen and When 4 The Effect on Earth (Shooting Star) 5 Famous Meteor Showers 5 Production of Meteor Showers 6 Historical Developments 7 Summary 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction Meteor is a small metallic or rocky body found in outer space. The meteors are smaller compared to other objects such as asteroids and meteor are usually fragments of asteroids or comets. These objects sometimes enter the enter space and create different images. An example of a meteor condition is the meteor showers. The aim of the report is to discuss meteor showers and the areas of focus include what meteor shower are, what is associated with a meteor shower, the effect on earth, famous meteor showers among other information. Analysis of Meteor Showers The section discusses different aspects of meteor showers. Some areas of discussion include the meteor shower, when it happens, the effect on earth, and historical developments. Meteor Shower Meteor shower is a celestial event that is associated with meteors in which they are observed in a radiating form and originates from a single point in the sky (Brown et al. 2010). These meteor showers are a result of debris of dust and participles entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds in parallel trajectories (Seeds & Backman, 2016). It is based on the movement of the earth in the solar system. The meteor dust spread along the orbit areas and countries to the formation of an elliptical trail that passes around the sun but also across the planets on the orbits (Jenniskens et al., 2011). The occurrence of meteor showers results when the Earth passes through the debris trail. Since the movement of the sun is predictable, the occurrence of the meteor shower is predictable on earth. (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches (2008) argues that meteor shower presents insights about the orbit and celestial occurrence. How they Happen and When The meteor showers evident in the sky tend to originate from the same direction in the space. The location of origin in the sky is called the radiant (Seeds & Backman, 2016). It may be compared with an individual driving the car through a tunnel which the radiant is the straight ahead point of the tunnel (Jenniskens et al., 2011). The meteor showers occur during different types of the year, and the following table summarizes the major meteor showers. Meteor shower name Dates Peak dates ZHR Source Quadrantids Jan. 1 - 5 January 3 120 Asteroid 2003 EH1 Lyrids April 15 - 28 April 22 15 Comet Thatcher Eta Aquarids April 19 - 28 May May 6 60 Comet 1P/Halley Arietids May 22 - 2 July June 7 54 Marsden sungrazer comets Delta Aquarids July 12 - 19 Aug. July 28 20 Kracht/Machholz sungrazer comets Perseids July 17 - 24 Aug. August 12 90 Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle Orionids Oct. 2 – Nov. 7 October 21 20 Comet 1P/Halley Geminids Dec. 7 - 17 December 14 120 Minor Planet 3200 Phaethon Ursids Dec. 17 - 26 December 22 10 Comet 8P/Tuttle Source: (Lynch, 2008) Analyzing the table, it is evident there are around nine peak dates which meteor showers occur. In the month of December, the frequency of the meteor showers are frequently and may occur throughout the month. Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches (2008) states that the continuous development of technology and information around meteor shower improves the understanding of the constellation, radiations, and continues to highlight periods and situations in which the meteor occurs. It means in the future, more meteor showers can be seen because of the possibility to see the dull meteor showers whereby the current situation is focusing on the bright meteor showers. The Effect on Earth (Shooting Star) Studies have indicated that meteors and meteor showers cause some circulation patterns and atmosphere’s dynamics. The atmospheres is made of low mass elements such as nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide (Brown et al. 2010). When the meteor show passes through the atmosphere, it may leave some heavier elements such as silicon and iron (Jenniskens et al., 2011). Even though the studies are not conclusive, it indicates a different perspective about the meteor shower. A good example of a meteor shower is the shooting star (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches, 2008). Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches (2008) states that the shooting star is a good example of a meteor shower because it can be used to explain about the meteor shower. Many people are in a position or have witnessed instances of a shooting star, which sometimes it is difficult to associate with the meteor shower. Hence, using the shooting star as a foundation, it is possible to understand and appreciate the fundamentals of the meteor shower. Famous Meteor Showers Some of the regular and famous meteor showers include the Leonids, Geminids, Quadrantids, and Perseids (Seeds & Backman, 2016). The uniqueness of the names lies on the constellations in which these meteor showers seem to appear. For instance, the Geminids meteor shower is sometimes seen in front of the Gemini constellation, which is the origin of the name. Byrd (2016) points out that the month of November for the period between 15 November and 22 November. Byrd (2016) states that the source of Leonid meteor shower occurs in the month of November and occurs after the earth crosses the Comet Tempel-Tuttle orbital path. Another example is the Quadrantid meteor shower that is the most evident across the year and originates from the Quadrans Muralis, which is an extinct constellation. The location of Quadrans Muralis is the intersection of Draco, Bootes, and Hercules. During the same period, weaker meteor showers are evident, and the occurrence occurs during the periods of Dec. 28 to Jan. 7, and it usually picks in on January 3/4 (Meteor Showers Online, 2016). Analyzing these different meteor showers, it is evident that a constellation is utilized in describing the meteor shower (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches, 2008). Different meteor shower can occur within the same time, but the brighter meteor shower is seen better compared with the dull ones. Production of Meteor Showers The source of the meteor showers are the comets, which are composed of an amount of sand and ice. The comets speeds creating an elliptical orbit in the outer solar system, but the nucleus of the comet is inactive. For instance, the Halley’s Comet period is 76 years since it orbits furthest since it goes beyond the Neptune orbit (Brown et al. 2010). The temperatures at these points are very low, but when the sun passes near the sun, the surface of the comet heats up making the ice to evaporate resulting in releasing of dust (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches, 2008). Comet has two tails, which are made of gas and dust. Each of these tails points away from the sun because the hot particles near the sun are pushed away towards the tail without consideration of the nucleus direction (Seeds & Backman, 2016). The dust stream sometimes can be seen as a uniform, but in a real sense, it takes the shape of rope strands. The elliptical streams keep shifting and fluctuating each year because of Jupiter’s gravitational field (Brown et al. 2010). Thus, the number of meteors may fluctuate each year, and it is expected in the future, some shower streams may not exist because of the extinction of the comet such as the Leonid meteor shower. The sources of meteor showers are the asteroids and comets, but the common ones are from comets (Seeds & Backman, 2016). The changing technological component means some of the debris and components of the meteor showers may include the satellites parts, which are humanmade. Historical Developments The first observation of Leonids in the modern times was in November 1833. The observations were done in the region of North America of the Rocky Mountains, and it is estimated the showers was made of more than two hundred thousand meteors. The historical developments of meteor showers are traced to Dension Olmsted (1791-1859) who pointed that since the shower was not seen in Europe and short in direction, he speculated the origin of the meteors was due to space particles, and the point of radiation was the constellation of Leo. Other famous astronomers were Arthur Matthew Weld Downing and George Johnstone Stoney who attempted to calculate the position of the dust after the occurrence of 1866 shower attributed to comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle with the purpose of anticipation of the Leonid shower (Williams, 2011). Donald Yeomans studied the data of Comet Tempel-Tuttle and pointed that the origin of the showers was not on the comet rather outside the path of the comet. Other scientists and astronomers continued to study the meteor shower leading to the current scientific and astronomical views. Summary The paper has presented information on meteor showers. Some of the information includes the historical development and fundamentals of the meteor showers. For example, the original studies about the meteor showers present the guiding principles and approaches in advancing studies about meteor showers. Other information includes the approaches of formation, the sources of the meteor showers and other components associated with the meteor showers such as the radiation. Conclusion Meteor shower is a celestial occurrence that is associated with comets, which originates from a single point in the sky. The source of the meteor shower is associated with dust emitted and the earth crosses the path of these comets, which is elliptical in nature. The crossing occurs within specific periods during the year meaning the occurrence of the meteor shower is predictable. A meteor shower occurs during different periods of the year, and the names of the occurrence are based on constellation origin. Some of the famous meteor showers include the Quadrantids, Geminids, Leonids and Perseids: since there are different meteor showers, it is possible for two meteor shower to occur but one of them is visible. References Brown, P., Wong, D. K., Weryk, R. J., & Wiegert, P. (2010). A meteoroid stream survey using the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar: II: Identification of minor showers using a 3D wavelet transform. Icarus, 207(1), 66-81. Byrd, D. (Nov. 15, 2016). Leonid meteor shower peaks this week. EarthSky. Retrieved from http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-leonid-meteor-shower Jenniskens, P., Gural, P. S., Dynneson, L., Grigsby, B. J., Newman, K. E., Borden, M., ... & Holman, D. (2011). CAMS: Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance to establish minor meteor showers. Icarus, 216(1), 40-61. Lynch, D. (2008). Meteor showers. Retrieved from http://geology.com/articles/meteor-shower.shtml Meteor Showers Online. (2016). Quadrantids observing. Retrieved from http://meteorshowersonline.com/quadrantids.html Seeds, M., & Backman, D. (2016). Foundations of astronomy, enhanced. London: Cengage Learning. Trigo-Rodriguez, J., Llorca, J., & Janches, D. (2008). Advances in meteoroid and meteor science. New York: Springer Science & Business Media. Williams, I. P. (2011). The origin and evolution of meteor showers and meteoroid streams. Astronomy & Geophysics, 52(2), 2-20. Read More

The Effect on Earth (Shooting Star) Studies have indicated that meteors and meteor showers cause some circulation patterns and atmosphere’s dynamics. The atmospheres is made of low mass elements such as nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide (Brown et al. 2010). When the meteor show passes through the atmosphere, it may leave some heavier elements such as silicon and iron (Jenniskens et al., 2011). Even though the studies are not conclusive, it indicates a different perspective about the meteor shower.

A good example of a meteor shower is the shooting star (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches, 2008). Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches (2008) states that the shooting star is a good example of a meteor shower because it can be used to explain about the meteor shower. Many people are in a position or have witnessed instances of a shooting star, which sometimes it is difficult to associate with the meteor shower. Hence, using the shooting star as a foundation, it is possible to understand and appreciate the fundamentals of the meteor shower.

Famous Meteor Showers Some of the regular and famous meteor showers include the Leonids, Geminids, Quadrantids, and Perseids (Seeds & Backman, 2016). The uniqueness of the names lies on the constellations in which these meteor showers seem to appear. For instance, the Geminids meteor shower is sometimes seen in front of the Gemini constellation, which is the origin of the name. Byrd (2016) points out that the month of November for the period between 15 November and 22 November. Byrd (2016) states that the source of Leonid meteor shower occurs in the month of November and occurs after the earth crosses the Comet Tempel-Tuttle orbital path.

Another example is the Quadrantid meteor shower that is the most evident across the year and originates from the Quadrans Muralis, which is an extinct constellation. The location of Quadrans Muralis is the intersection of Draco, Bootes, and Hercules. During the same period, weaker meteor showers are evident, and the occurrence occurs during the periods of Dec. 28 to Jan. 7, and it usually picks in on January 3/4 (Meteor Showers Online, 2016). Analyzing these different meteor showers, it is evident that a constellation is utilized in describing the meteor shower (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches, 2008).

Different meteor shower can occur within the same time, but the brighter meteor shower is seen better compared with the dull ones. Production of Meteor Showers The source of the meteor showers are the comets, which are composed of an amount of sand and ice. The comets speeds creating an elliptical orbit in the outer solar system, but the nucleus of the comet is inactive. For instance, the Halley’s Comet period is 76 years since it orbits furthest since it goes beyond the Neptune orbit (Brown et al. 2010). The temperatures at these points are very low, but when the sun passes near the sun, the surface of the comet heats up making the ice to evaporate resulting in releasing of dust (Trigo-Rodriguez, Llorca & Janches, 2008).

Comet has two tails, which are made of gas and dust. Each of these tails points away from the sun because the hot particles near the sun are pushed away towards the tail without consideration of the nucleus direction (Seeds & Backman, 2016). The dust stream sometimes can be seen as a uniform, but in a real sense, it takes the shape of rope strands. The elliptical streams keep shifting and fluctuating each year because of Jupiter’s gravitational field (Brown et al. 2010). Thus, the number of meteors may fluctuate each year, and it is expected in the future, some shower streams may not exist because of the extinction of the comet such as the Leonid meteor shower.

The sources of meteor showers are the asteroids and comets, but the common ones are from comets (Seeds & Backman, 2016). The changing technological component means some of the debris and components of the meteor showers may include the satellites parts, which are humanmade. Historical Developments The first observation of Leonids in the modern times was in November 1833.

Read More