Since it takes many light years for the stars light to reach us. This is an add on to a question another user asked.
2007-06-04 15:46:44 · 17 answers · asked by bud d 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
yes, however meteorites are a different story. We see them in real time after they have entered our atmosphere, and are burning up.
2007-06-04 15:49:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Falling stars are really not falling stars but rather meteors that have entered earths atmosphere and are burning up. The light we see from these is real time and did not happen years ago.
2007-06-04 22:51:28 · answer #2 · answered by drochem 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Meteors, commonly referred to as "shooting stars" are particles left over from comets that the path of the Earth crosses and they appear to 'shoot' across the sky. 99% are visible only at night.
The small particles, some the size of dust, heat as they enter our atmosphere which makes them glow. They fall through the atmosphere building more and more heat until they burn out.
Some of the larger particles take longer to burn up and appear as a bolide, or fireball, shooting through the sky. Some of these have been so big and so hot they have been visible in daylight.
These are not real stars that are falling. If a real star were to 'fall' toward Earth, Earth would be destroyed long before it would reach our atmosphere as stars are massive. Some are hundreds and thousand times larger than our sun.
2007-06-04 22:58:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anthony W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Falling stars are not actually stars. Stars falling on the Earth would be a catastrophe. They are the size and temperature of the Sun. The stuff that's actually falling on the Earth are small rocks and bits of dust that burn up in our atmosphere.
2007-06-04 23:14:51 · answer #4 · answered by eri 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sorry, but iy really amazes me that people in this day and age do not know that a falling star is not a star.
Meteors enter our atnosphere and burn up about 80 km altitude. They are normally dust size to grain size.
Thus we see the light from "falling stars" thousandths of s second after they happen.
PS - they were called falling stars before people knew what stars are. That was about 400 years ago and earlier. Get with the program.
2007-06-04 22:54:09 · answer #5 · answered by nick s 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A falling star is not a star in the sky.
Its the light from a meteor (a small rock from space) as it burns up in our atmosphere. So there is no light-years distance to travel, the streak of light we see is right here in our atmosphere.
2007-06-04 22:53:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Falling stars as they are called...are debris or rock from asteroids or comets that fall through the earths atmosphere and because of the speed they burn and glow..most never reach the earth those that do are priceless and can fetch a nice price.
2007-06-04 22:56:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Falling stars" are actually meteors - the glowing trails left by tiny bits of space debris entering Earth's atmosphere. So the light has traveled for some minuscule fraction of a second.
2007-06-04 22:52:08 · answer #8 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't take many years for that light to reach our planet because "falling stars" are not actual stars. They are debris, like rocks, in space, that get caught in Earth's gravitational field and then burn up in our atmosphere. This burning is what you see.
2007-06-04 22:50:19 · answer #9 · answered by lebowski 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
LOL. falling stars are actually tiny meteorites that are burning up as they enter earths atmosphere
2007-06-04 22:49:59 · answer #10 · answered by jlassw101 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are called shooting stars and they are actually small meteors that are burning up in our atmosphere before falling as meteorites.
2007-06-08 09:47:40 · answer #11 · answered by johnandeileen2000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋