When will the Perseids starfall occur? Why do stars fall and what are shooting stars? Why do stars fall
The end of each summer marked by a magnificent and unsurpassed in its beauty event: a starfall. Anyone can watch it and there is hardly a person who will remain indifferent to this spectacle.
What do the legends say?
Since ancient times, a huge number of signs and superstitions have been associated with the fall of a star. Perhaps even a child knows that when a star falls, you need to make your deepest wish, and it will definitely come true. An ancient legend says that every person has his own star. It lights up in the sky when a person is born, and after his death, it hastens to fall to the ground and go out. At this moment, she fulfills any wish made by a person. If a person did not have time to make a wish, it means that he does not want something too much, or his wish simply will not come true.
According to another legend, a shooting star is an angel who hurries to Earth to give a soul to a newly born person. The stars meant souls that did not have a body; falling to the ground, they found one.
In ancient times, people believed that falling stars were arrows of the Gods who were at war with evil forces. Every nation has its own superstitions associated with a falling star. So, Muslims personified it with an evil enemy, the Slavs believed that a falling star meant death, and in the Scandinavian countries it was a forgiven soul. In addition, there is a sign that when a person sees a shooting star, he will get sick and never get better. 
Scientific point of view
However, science has long known that stars do not fall anywhere. A star is a large ball of hot gas. The sizes of stars are several times larger than the size of the Earth, so it is difficult to imagine what would happen if hundreds of such balls suddenly fell from the sky and flew towards our planet. However, something is definitely falling against the background of the dark sky and more than one thousand people have already witnessed this beautiful action.
In fact, what is commonly called a shooting star is just a rock that crossed the earth's atmosphere. During flight, it heats up to such a temperature that it begins to glow and leaves a bright streak behind it. After some time, the stone burns, and its trace disappears without a trace. These stones were named. Thousands of such meteors fly across the sky every day. Some stones that were able to reach the ground are called meteorites. The largest of them fell in Africa, weighing 60 tons. 
Why is it that in August you can observe the largest starfall? The fact is that at this time our planet passes through an area of dust particles that it releases. The smallest particles entering the Earth's atmosphere burn up and create a starfall effect. You can observe this beautiful phenomenon from anywhere in the world, and it is not at all necessary to have special equipment. The next time the comet will pass close to the earth will be in 2126. Until this time, we will be able to observe other starfalls, but, alas, there will not be such bright and impressive ones.
Municipal educational institution "GYMNASIA 18"
PROJECT ON THE TOPIC
WHAT IS STAR FALL?
I've done the work
Student of 2nd grade "B"
Zinoviev Oleg
Stary Oskol 2010
Tasks:
111) find out what starfall is;
2 ) 2) understand why this phenomenon occurs;
3) characterize the falling “stars”.
INTRODUCTION CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT.
This topic quite relevant today. Every person should know about the Universe at least that little part that is in children's encyclopedias. However, not every one of us can answer the most basic questions related to space. Including the question of what a meteor shower is and why “stars” fall.
1. FIRST, LET’S GET TO KNOW THE MEANING OF THE EXPRESSION
"STAR RAIN"
What then falls from the sky, captivating people with its beauty and mystery?
“Star shower” (in other words, starfall, meteor shower) is the appearance of many falling “stars” in the night sky (sometimes up to 1000 in one minute!). This phenomenon is caused by the meeting of the Earth with a cosmic swarm of solid particles - meteoroids.
2. WHY DID I TOUCH THIS TOPIC?
When I was very little, I really loved looking at the dark starry sky. And he was very surprised when he saw small shiny dots flying across it quickly and quickly. They flew by so fast that sometimes I didn’t have time to notice them. And then my grandmother or mother told me: “Don’t worry, it’s August, and stars fall very often.” How so? Stars - they are very big, entire planets, and suddenly they fall? Where do they fall? And why?
I've grown up, but I still love looking at the night sky. And now a lot has become clear to me. I learned some things from children's encyclopedias, some from Discovery Channel programs, and some from the Internet. In fact, stars do not fall from the sky. A star is a huge hot ball of hot gas. Its dimensions are several times larger than the size of the Earth. It is difficult to imagine what would happen to all of us if something like this one day fell from the heavens towards the Earth.
3. THE PURPOSE OF MY WORK IS:
trace the process of starfall occurrence, figure out whether stars are falling and understand why August is the peak of starfall. In addition, read as much literature as possible on this topic and develop your horizons.
4. WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
What we think is a falling star is just a rock that came from outer space and crossed the earth's atmosphere.
While it flies, it heats up so much that it flashes with bright stripes and begins to glow. A moment passes and the stone burns, and its star trail disappears. Such interplanetary dust particles are called meteors. There are thousands of stellar flares in the Earth's atmosphere per day, their brightness depends on the magnitude of the star.
A meteor shower is formed as a result of the disintegration of comets.
Over time, the material from the collapsed comet is distributed almost evenly along the entire orbit of the former comet.
In August, the Earth approaches one such “trail”, which is why many meteors are observed.
August starfalls were observed by ancient peoples, who thousands of years ago called them the golden shower of Zeus. The ancient Arabs believed that these were fiery arrows that heavenly angels threw in the fight against demons. Particles of interplanetary dust, entering the earth's atmosphere at high speeds, burn up in it, turning into meteors - short-term flashes that sweep across the sky and disappear, leaving a narrow luminous trail for a few seconds. This trail is colloquially called a "shooting star."
"Star rain" pours into the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 11 to 73 km/sec, flares up at an altitude of 120 kilometers and goes out at an altitude of 70 kilometers.
Depending on their size, meteorites have different names. The smallest (no more than a pea),
are considered meteors. When they fly into the atmosphere, they evaporate and
leave a luminous trail similar to a falling star.
Larger bodies that burn before reaching the Earth
are called fireballs. The flight of the car may be accompanied by
a sound (but not always) similar to a rustling sound.
The largest space "guests" do not have time
burn from friction in the atmosphere and fall to the surface of the Earth -
are called meteorites (meteor bodies).
5. CONCLUSIONS
The starry sky and everything connected with it is a mystery that nature gave us. A riddle that ancient people tried to answer when they simply followed the stars and planets with their eyes. A riddle that we, today’s schoolchildren, will have to answer. How much more unknown and unknown does the UNIVERSE contain within itself... And how many more questions remain unanswered... We have everything ahead of us!
What is the scientific name for starfall? and got the best answer
Answer from Usignolo[guru]
The scientific name for this phenomenon is a meteor shower.
A meteor shower is a phenomenon that occurs in the atmosphere of a planet when it encounters a meteor swarm - a compact group of meteoroids moving in close orbits and related by a common origin.
Some of the meteor showers are quite compact: the main swarm of meteor particles is tens of thousands of kilometers wide. Other meteor showers - usually old ones - stretch almost along their entire orbit, and the width of the stream is measured in tens of millions of kilometers.
Each meteor shower orbits the Sun with a constant period, and therefore many of them meet the Earth on certain days of the year. On the days of encountering a meteor shower, the number of meteors increases sharply, and if the meteor swarm is compact, then meteor or “star” showers are observed.
Invading the earth's atmosphere, particles of a meteor swarm fly along approximately parallel paths, but due to perspective, meteors appear to be emitted from a limited area of the sky, called the radiation area. If you mentally extend the flight paths of meteors, they will intersect within the area of their radiation near a point called the meteor shower radiant. Meteor showers are named after the constellations in which their radiants are located. For example, the meteor shower generated by Halley's Comet and active in the second half of October is called the Orionids, since the radiant of this meteor shower lies in the constellation Orion.
The intensity of meteor showers varies from year to year, and depending on the distribution of meteor particles in the swarm, these changes can be significant. An example is the Leonid meteor shower, which caused “star showers” of great intensity in 1799, 1833 and 1866. , and in 1899 and 1932. practically disappeared. However, in 1966, the intensity of the stream turned out to be truly incredible: in 20 minutes, about 150 thousand meteors were observed (for comparison: the Quadrantids, Perseids and Geminids meteor showers produce no more than 50 meteors per hour). varies from year to year, and depending on the nature of the distribution of meteoric particles in the swarm, these changes can be significant.
Source: link
Answer from Good Devil[guru]
Meteor shower (star shower, English meteor shower) is a collection of meteors generated by the invasion of a swarm of meteoroids into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Most often, a meteor shower of high intensity (up to a thousand meteors per hour) is called a star or meteor shower.
Since meteor swarms occupy clearly defined orbits in outer space, then, firstly, meteor showers are observed at a strictly defined time of year, when the Earth passes the point of intersection of the orbits of the Earth and the swarm, and secondly, the radiants of the streams appear at a strictly defined point in the sky (constellation).
The concepts of meteor shower and meteor shower should not be confused. If a meteor shower consists of meteors that burn up in the atmosphere and do not reach the ground, then a meteor shower consists of meteorites that fall to the ground. Previously, the former were not distinguished from the latter, and both of these phenomena were called “rain of fire.”
Answer from The GamerPro[newbie]
Like all bodies in nature, stars do not remain unchanged, they are born, evolve, and finally “die.” Stars are hot balls of gas, the source of energy and radiation in which are thermonuclear reactions, mainly the conversion of hydrogen into helium. This process occurs in the center of the star, where the temperature reaches 15 million kelvins (0.01 degrees Celsius corresponds to 273.16 kelvins). All matter at such a temperature and significant pressure is actually in the state of plasma, ionized gas. The process of the thermonuclear reaction is somewhat different for stars of the mass of the Sun and for more massive ones (heavier elements such as carbon and nitrogen take part in it), but the result everywhere is the synthesis of a helium nucleus from four hydrogen nuclei with the release of energy. The hydrogen content by mass in solar class stars is approximately 70-75%, the rest is helium and other elements, the content of which usually does not exceed 1.5-2%.
The visible surface of a star is the photosphere. The temperature of the photosphere is related to such a characteristic of the star as its spectral class. There are seven main classes in total: O, B, A, F, G, K, M (plus ten subclasses from 0 to 9). There is also a division into C0-C9 (carbon) stars, S-stars (with ZrO bands in the spectrum) and several other less common ones. O are the hottest with an effective temperature of more than 25000K and have a white-blue color, M are the coldest with an effective temperature of less than 3500K and are red. For example, the Sun is class G2 with an effective temperature of about 5700K. The spectral class is associated with the luminosity class of the star, denoted by Roman numerals from Ia and Ib (supergiants) to VII (white dwarfs). Stars are born in gas and dust clouds of the interstellar medium due to clumps of matter formed as a result of external disturbances, for example, after a supernova explosion. The substance, under the influence of gravitational forces, begins to thicken and heat up. When the protostar reaches a certain mass, the temperature reaches the value at which nuclear reactions begin. The duration of this process depends on the mass. For stars the mass of the Sun, this takes up to 30 million years, while for more massive ones it takes a hundred times less. It should be noted that for stars with greater mass, all processes proceed much faster than for less massive ones. The subsequent stage of the star’s life passes without noticeable external changes for quite a long time (about 10 billion years for stars like the Sun, and no more than 0.5 billion years for stars with several times greater mass). During this period, the process of burning hydrogen in the star's core takes place. At the same time, the brightness and size remain constant, since gravitational forces are balanced by the pressure of the gas inside the star.
The main parameters of stars are mass, radius, luminosity, effective temperature, spectral class, magnitude. Due to their considerable distance, it is extremely difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to determine the exact numerical values of some parameters of stars, therefore, when describing them, relative values are often used, for example, in comparison with the Sun, as a typical main sequence star (which will be discussed below).
Mass is the main parameter that determines the entire evolution of a star, the processes occurring inside it, life expectancy, as well as other parameters at all stages of its existence. The masses of stars range from approximately 1/20 to 100 times the mass of the Sun. The lower limit is actually the minimum mass value at which, thanks to gravitational energy, the core of the future star is able to heat up to the temperature at which it is possible to maintain a thermonuclear reaction.
The radii of stars vary over a wider range than their masses. Dwarf stars can have radii 10 times smaller than the Sun, while giant stars are 1000 times larger. As a result, shine
At the end of almost every summer, you can enjoy an unusually beautiful spectacle - abundant starfall, when the sky is illuminated with luminous paths at night. Sometimes these are single “traces”, sometimes it is a real fiery rain. In especially “fruitful” years, many people specially go out for night festivities to admire this spectacle. Lovers kiss in the light Romantics are quietly thrilled by the sight of the colorful sky, poets write poetry. What is another name for shooting stars?
Superstitions and legends
The most famous and used sign: when you see a shooting star, you need to make a wish. If you managed to do it before it went out, your wish will come true. If you didn’t have time, either you don’t need it, or you don’t really want it.
A much lesser-known myth, which religious people are more inclined to believe: a shooting star is an angel who carries the soul to a newborn.
The ancient Greeks believed that a shooting star was a divine spear or arrow aimed against the forces of evil. For the Slavs, she personified death, for the Scandinavians - a soul that was forgiven by people and gods, for Muslims - a strong and evil enemy.
Scientific explanation
Meanwhile, even high school students have known for a long time that a star cannot fall. It is a huge ball of gas of unimaginable temperature. And if at least one such star crashes to Earth, there will probably not be any dust left from the latter. So what do scientists call shooting stars?
In fact, a colorful trail in the sky is left by a stone that has entered the uppermost layers of the earth's atmosphere. From friction with the air it becomes hot and begins to glow. Here's how. Falling stars are called “meteors” differently if they are small in size and burn up completely at a distance of eight to ten dozen kilometers, still in the atmosphere. Some meteors are so small that it is impossible to see their path without binoculars, or even a telescope.
What is another name for shooting stars, the “fragments” of which reach the soil? They are large in size, and most enter the atmosphere relatively slowly, allowing the air to slow them down. A meteorite looks like it rushes across the sky with a roar and crash, and after falling leaves a crater on the surface. It must be said that “stones” of this size, and even those flying in at the right angle and at the appropriate speed, are quite rare, so the fall of each of them is imprinted in human memory for a long time (the same Tunguska or the one that fell in Africa).
Sources of shooting stars
Individual meteorites are found at any time of the year. This is due to the fact that some random event was captured by the magnetic field of our (and any other) planet. Another thing is massive meteorite attacks (as falling stars are called differently, we have already found out).
Astronomers have established for sure that rain from falling stars only gives birth to comets. This cosmic phenomenon itself consists of a solid body (usually ice, but there are also rocky versions; although even comets made of ice contain solid inclusions). When a comet approaches a star whose temperature is off the charts, the ice evaporates, taking with it the solid components of the nucleus. The tail is made up of microscopic dust particles carried away by what is called the “solar wind.” Larger (and, accordingly, heavier) pebbles cannot be blown away by the wind. As a result, they create a donut around them, which astronomers call a “torus.” And if the said donut falls into the gravitational field of the planet, we have star rain.
Starfall as a phenomenon
Two notable meteorite showers have been recorded. One of them is called the Leonids, the other - the Perseids, by name from which they optically emanate. The first of them delight with waterfalls of stars after many years, but the second - every summer. This is because the flow of celestial bodies that the Earth collides with also has its age. If he is “young”, the starfall will be abundant; if he has already repeatedly encountered our planet (and perhaps with others on his way), then his “stone warriors” have already been fairly thinned out.
Why August?
What’s most interesting is that the August “star showers” come regularly from year to year. Astronomers agree on why stars fall in August and not in other months. They believe that the culprit is the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, through which the Earth is passing at exactly this time. What is good about this particular starfall? Because it is accessible to anyone, you don’t need any special equipment, and it doesn’t matter where you are on the planet. It is clearly visible, and this pleases ordinary people, and not just astronomers.
Of course, there are more spectacular star showers. For example, the same Perseids promise just a grandiose fireworks display! Astronomers are looking forward to it. It is believed that the Earth has never seen a more magnificent starfall (at least there is no recorded evidence). But! We will have to wait until 2126 for what was promised. It is unlikely that even children born just a day ago will live to see this moment. So let's enjoy what is available to us now!