What is another name for a meteor?
Correct answer to the quiz question
Shooting star
The term “shooting star” is generally used to describe the phenomenon of a meteor that flies through the Earth’s atmosphere and lights up visibly.
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Detailed answer to the quiz question
A shooting star is the popular name for a visual phenomenon that occurs when a meteoroid enters the earth’s atmosphere and is heated up by friction with air molecules. This heating causes the meteoroid to begin to glow and leave a bright streak of light in the sky. This brief flash often lasts only a few seconds to a minute.
The term “shooting star” probably originated from the belief in earlier times that these light phenomena actually came from stars falling from the sky. In reality, however, they are small pieces of cosmic debris that enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed and glow due to the heat of their entry.
Shooting stars are more frequently observed during meteor streams, when the Earth moves through a region in space that contains many meteoroids. Well-known meteor streams are, for example, the Perseids in August or the Geminids in December.
In summary, the term “shooting star” is used to describe the visual phenomenon of a meteor appearing as a bright streak of light in the sky as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere and burns up.
