Sun, Moon, and Stars: Astronomy for Beginners · Part I, Ch. VIII · Part 1: Part I: Our family in the sky, and its neighbors
9. Little servants: shooting stars and meteorites
Goal: Your child can explain what a shooting star is, how the air protects us, and when to watch for a meteor shower.
You'll need
- The book, open to Part I, Chapter VIII
- A calendar
- A blanket or reclining chair for a night of meteor-watching
What's in the book
Shooting stars are not stars but tiny bodies circling the Sun in flocks, which burn up as they rush into our air. A few reach the ground as meteorites. The chapter also tells of fire-balls, the August and November showers, Saturn's rings, and the Zodiacal Light.
The lesson, step by step
Hook question
SayHave you ever seen a shooting star? Is it really a star?
Read together
Read the chapter aloud. It begins on a walk at night:
That which you have seen was not the beginning of a story, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it was the end of a story.
Our blanket of air
Rub your palms together hard and fast. Feel them warm up. Say: A tiny meteor hits the air at many miles a second. The rubbing makes it so hot that it glows and vanishes, high above us. That glow is the shooting star.
Meteor showers on the calendar
The book names two showers in August and November. Mark them on your calendar. Say: The Earth crosses the same 'ring' of meteors at the same time every year.
What we know now
Most shooting stars come from bits no bigger than a grain of sand. The meteor rings the Earth crosses are dust trails left behind by comets.
Today the big August shower (the Perseids) is best around August 12 and 13, and the November one (the Leonids) around November 17. The Geminids in mid-December are often the best show of the year.
The book guesses meteors might feed the Sun's heat. We now know the Sun shines by nuclear fusion deep inside it, joining tiny particles of hydrogen into helium.
The book is right that Saturn's rings are made of countless small pieces: mostly ice, with some rock and dust.
Tell it back
Ask your child to tell the life story of one tiny meteor, from flying round the Sun with its flock to its last flash in our sky.
Check questions
About how high up do shooting stars appear and vanish?
What is a meteorite?
What protects us from being hit by most meteors?
Notice it this week
Plan a meteor watch on a clear, moonless night, ideally near a shower date. Lie on a blanket with an adult, away from lights, and give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust. Count the meteors you see in half an hour.
Afterwards
If a natural history museum is nearby, look for a meteorite you are allowed to touch.
Tip
On a meteor night, a red-light flashlight (or a regular one with red cellophane over it) keeps everyone's night vision.
Answers to the book's problems
They appear about seventy miles up and vanish about fifty miles up (the book's figures). A meteorite is a piece of rock or metal from space that reaches the ground. The Earth's atmosphere, the air.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.