A friend of yours who has not taken astronomy sees a meteor shower (she calls it a bunch of shooting stars). The next day she confides in you that she was concerned that the stars in the Big Dipper (her favorite star pattern) might be the next ones to go. How would you put her mind at ease?
The reason behind the meteor shower and its difference from shooting star.
Explanation of Solution
The meteor shower is an event in which a large number of meteors enter atmosphere per hour. It is basically due to the large amount of dust and other material from a comet or other celestial body falls near the Earth’s surface.
The person having no knowledge about the astronomy gets confused between the meteor shower and the stars. He might consider the meteor shower as a star with some exceptional properties. They should be given a detailed idea about the behaviors of the other celestial bodies like comets, meteorites etc. as compared to the planets, stars and the moons.
Conclusion:
Thus, the person can be made understand about the difference between the meteor shower and the shooting star by explaining the behaviors of these celestial bodies as compared to the behavior of the moon and the planets.
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Chapter 14 Solutions
Astronomy
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