I am a star gazer but...?

Question

...I know little about them. In my life I have been fortunate enough to see many falling stars (shooting stars) and actually sat staring at an odd looking star once only to see it streak across the sky. My question, just how fortunate am I? I'm not an astronomer, nor do I look through telescopes, I'm curious to know if the average person has seen as many as I have which is probably three to five a year. Don't ask my age, let's just say it's a lot!

:) Well, my few shooting stars are nothing compared to the rest of you. I feel silly for even asking. You've all however encouraged me to keep looking up and for that I'm grateful. I love the night sky and don't get to do what you all seem to. I still consider myself fortunate that I have witnessed the beauty of a trailing star.

For the one who seems to think he is better than the rest of you, yes, I know many of the stars, yes I know the constellations and no, I'm not, as I was pretty clear about, a professional.

Thanks to all of you who helped me with this. I am putting my experience of my first falling star sighting in a story I'm doing (hopefully to be published soon) and appreciate your help. It will be difficult but I will give the ten points when time allows.

Oh, and thanks for all the links!! Terrific.

Answer 1

The interesting thing about your question, is that when you use a telescope you see fewer meteor (shooting stars) than if you look without one. The reason is that a telescope sees only a tiny part of the whole sky.

But the other thing is: people whose hobby is astronomy spend a lot of time outside at night. So they see a LOT of meteors, and 3-5 *per night* is pretty normal. I don't pay much attention to meteors (I'm out at night sky watching several times a month and have seen thousands) but I will say, that about once a year I see a BLAZING HUMDINGER of a meteor that just about knocks me out of my shoes.

There are other events called meteor showers. Sometime comets break up into gigantic clouds of traveling debris or small particles. Their orbits are reasonably well known, and the Earth crosses their path regularly. When that happens we can see hundreds of meteors an hour. It is called a meteor shower. I even watched a meteor shower from downtown San Francisco, from an apartment roof. Just take out a folding chair, a cup of hot chocolate or tea, and watch the show.

The less light there is, the fainter the meteors you can see. The upcoming PERSEID meteor shower in August might be very nice, because the moon will not be out to make it harder to see faint meteors.

I provided a link. If you go out during a meteor shower and the sky is clear and the conditions are right, you may see dozens or hundreds of meteors, and it could blow our mind!

A fair number of meteors hit the Earth and become meteorites. People look for them in the Arctic and other icy regions because the dark rocks on the ice are easy to find. You can actually BUY a piece of a "falling star" or meteorite for as little as $20. How mind blowing is that. I'll provide a link to such a place.

I hope you get a chance to view the Perseid meteor shower this August. It is one of the most famous. If you contact a local astronomy club there may be a viewing event near where you live, you can hang out with folks. Maybe someone will go with you if driving home late is a problem. These events are typically "no charge."

To contact local astronomy clubs, I'll give you the Sky and Telescope web site too. Enter where you live and see what comes up.

"Keep looking up."

Answer 2

You really need to look on an astronomy Calendar, or whatever its called.
Look for the Big Meteor Showers.
Like I think we have a big one This Month...
I was in Jerome, Arizona.
the elevation was just about a mile up, on a mountain, (Thats Jerome) and I saw ...O-my Gosh!!! The Best Ever Meteor Shower...In My Life!!!
I'm 35 now, that was like 5 yrs. ago or more.
But yeah, we go through...as we circle the sun on this Tiny Blue Planet, Meteor "Clouds", or whatever.
I swear, I saw three shooting stars at a time, and the tracers, were light forever!!! the Streaks I mean.
Oh it was so Cool, no, Totally Awesome!!!!
So yeah, I mean...you know.
Its really great you have seen a lot, I guess you are Lucky,.
But yeay, if your really into that, Shooting Stars....You gotta know whwn we have our, Big Shows, and find you a nice place, up in the Mountains with no Cities, or their Crummy Light(s), to mess up your view.
Good for you...Here Itry to find a link.

http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/

There is one of many.
It looks like according to the chert this site gives...
It looks like a full moon, will mess up the views, for many of the Big shows.
Have fun ...and Keep Looking up.
Let me know too, when you see Jesus, Comming on the clouds.
I mean, since your looking up.
Keep an eye out for the Man.
Have fun.

Answer 3

I've seen dozens in a single night, during the Leonids. Lovely to just kick back and watch.

You sound like you might be interested in something else - go to

http://www.heavens-above.com/

register, and input you location. Then look for visible satellites and Iridium flares for your location. A -8 magnitude Iridium flare is pretty spectacular under a dark sky away from city lights. I'm guessing that your odd-looking star was a satellite. With over 2000 of them up there, you can catch at least a couple of them every evening.

Answer 4

You don't know the principal magnitude stars of the sky. You don't know the constellations. You don't know the Andromeda Galaxy. You don't know the spectacular Messier objects or the recent Hubble shots of distant heavenly sights. I don't know that you have actually seen a meteor break up in the night sky as it "glanced off" of Earth's atmosphere, like I have on a handful of occasions. You don't know how to look up the expected positions of the International Space Station and catch it cruising across a twilight sky with binoculars.

I wouldn't consider you fortunate. But, I would say it's never too late to get interested. You have some wonderful catching up to do.

Answer 5

Good for you!

I love star gazing too. But there are periodic times when "shooting stars" are more prevalent.

Staying away from bright urban areas also helps illuminate the night sky so that more can be seen.

Did you know you can see satellites (man made) with the naked eye? You just have to sit and watch. You can see the space station too!!!

Answer 6

Hello Jessie:

You seem like a very reasonable person with an inquisitive mind. Since you seem interested in things related to
Astronomy, let me encourage you to go visit the following site.
Every time I try to type it out exactly, it gets shortened by this yahoo system, so I will spell it out for you:

http : // curious dot astro dot cornell dot edu

If you go there you will find a most instructive site created by
Cornell University that has all kinds of information that will
keep you occupied and educate you on all manner of things
related to Outer Space, the Universe, and objects in space.

Regards,
Zah

Answer 7

During the Perseid meteor shower in August in the USA, I have seen as many as 20/ hour.

There are many meteor showers that occur when the earth travels through dust left by a comet. As the earth passes through the dust a meteor shower occurs.

Many meteor showers are annual events because the earth passes through them at the same time every year.

Do a search on annual meteor showers and find out more/

And have fun

Answer 8

I've seen many shooting stars. You do know they are just meteorites burning up while entering the earth's atmosphere, don't you? Get a telescope and increase your enjoyment of stargazing. Who knows--maybe a future career as an astronomer?

Answer 9

I've only seen one, so yes I would say you are lucky. Mind you, if you spend lots of time looking at the sky, you are bound to see the odd shooting star. They are quite ordinary occurrence. Three to five sightings sounds about right to me.

Answer 10

During the Perseids and the Leonids you can see many more than that. Meteor showers such as these often yield a number of meteors per hour. You might see 3 to 5 per hour.