The starry sky is the object of sighs of lovers and the object of observation of scientists. The former admire the mysterious twilight, pierced by the beads of luminous bodies, the latter immerse themselves in complex calculations, which are later stored in the casket of scientific knowledge. A shooting star causes even greater delight and promises the fulfillment of cherished desires. However, it is worth understanding the terminology so as not to be considered a romantic ignoramus.
A shooting star isn't actually a star at all. Just imagine what could happen to our planet if the Sun fell on it! A star is an accumulation of hot gas, the size of which is huge. It seems small only due to the large distance from the Earth. Even the Sun is a medium-sized star, but even it is millions of times larger than our planet. Bright flashes that occur when a celestial body enters our atmosphere are of a different nature.
In outer space there is a huge variety of bodies: from dust to stars. Broken pieces of comets or asteroids, the size of whichoften do not exceed a small pebble - these are meteoric bodies. They move freely in space due to the absence of friction until they collide with one or another object. In this case, with the planet Earth. And only then they begin to call them "meteors" and "meteorites". These two concepts should be distinguished.
A meteor is a light phenomenon that occurs as a result of the friction of a meteoroid against the atmosphere. Thus, a shooting star, which we identify by its bright, luminous tail, is a meteor. Its size can reach the size of a decent boulder and even more. However, in most cases, a meteor is no bigger than a grain of sand or a pebble.
During the day, thousands of meteors invade the Earth's atmosphere. Their average speed ranges from 35-70 km per second. At such a huge speed, the meteor encounters air resistance, its temperature rapidly increases. The body literally boils, turning into a hot gas, which dissipates in the air. And earthlings at this time smile joyfully and rush to make a wish. It is good if the shooting star, that is, the meteor, is small in size and completely burns up in the atmosphere. Heavenly stones are very large and reach the surface of the Earth. Such a body is already called a meteorite.
From the last significant falls, we can recall the event that occurred in 1920 in Africa. Then the Goba meteorite landed on the territory of the mainland, the weight of which was about 60 tons. Largespace messengers visited us later. Suffice it to recall the incident in Chelyabinsk. A meteorite in the United States, which fell in Arizona more than 50 thousand years ago, left behind a huge crater, the diameter of which exceeds 1200 meters. It is assumed that the weight of the cosmic body was 300 thousand tons, and the explosion from its fall was similar to the explosion of 8 thousand bombs, similar to those that were dropped on Hiroshima.
Certainly, a shooting star is beautiful. However, in this case, beauty can be a truly terrible and destructive force.
