08-10-2004, 02:29 PM
This week lots of meteors will appear over Earth's northern hemisphere when our planet plows through a dense swarm of dust shed by periodic comet Swift-Tuttle. It's the annual [url "http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/25jun_perseids2004.htm"]Perseid meteor shower[/url], which peaks on August 11th and 12th.
Coincidentally, many of the meteoroids hitting Earth will be about the size of tiny insects--as small as a flea or a mite. They make vivid streaks across the sky not because they're big, but because they are fast-moving. Perseid meteoroids hit our atmosphere traveling 59 km/s (132,000 mph).
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Coincidentally, many of the meteoroids hitting Earth will be about the size of tiny insects--as small as a flea or a mite. They make vivid streaks across the sky not because they're big, but because they are fast-moving. Perseid meteoroids hit our atmosphere traveling 59 km/s (132,000 mph).
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