How often do meteors appear?

There are several kinds of meteors: single meteor, fireball and meteor shower.

The appearance time and direction of a single meteor are irregular, which is also called accidental meteor. Fireball is also an occasional meteor, but when it appears, it is very bright, like a fire dragon and may be accompanied by explosion, and some can even be seen during the day. Many meteors radiate from a certain point (radiation point) in the starry sky, which is a meteor shower. Meteorite is the remaining part of the larger meteoroid in the solar system that has not completely burned after it broke into the earth's atmosphere. It brings us rich information about the formation and evolution of celestial bodies in the solar system, and it is a welcome uninvited guest. Generally speaking, the density of meteoroids is extremely low, about 1/20 of that of water. Billions of meteoroids enter the earth's atmosphere every day, and their total mass can reach 20 tons.

bolide

The fireball looks very bright, like a huge sparkling dragon, making a rustling sound and sometimes exploding. Some fireballs can see it even during the day. The fireball appears because its meteoroid has a large mass (more than several hundred grams). After entering the earth's atmosphere, it was too late to burn out at high altitude, and continued to break into the dense lower atmosphere, rubbing violently with the earth's atmosphere at a very high speed, producing dazzling light. After the fireball disappears, it will leave a long cloud-like belt on its path, which is called "meteor trail"; Some traces disappear quickly, while others can last for several seconds to several minutes, or even as long as several tens of minutes.

meteor shower

Among all kinds of meteor phenomena, the most beautiful and spectacular is the meteor shower. When it appears, thousands of meteors radiate from a certain point (radiation point) in the sky like flashing ribbons. Meteor showers are named after the constellations where the radiant points are located, such as andromedids and Leonid meteor showers. There have been many famous meteor showers in history: Lyra meteor shower, Aquarius meteor shower, Leonid meteor shower and andromedids. China recorded the Lyra meteor shower in 687 BC, which is the earliest meteor shower record in the world.

Meteor showers occur regularly, and they often recur on roughly the same day every year, so they are also called "periodic meteors".