What are shooting stars? Detailed answer

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What are shooting stars? Detailed answer

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What are shooting stars?

For many millennia, man has observed shooting stars, wondering what they are and where they come from. For some time it was believed that they come from other worlds.

Today we know that these are not "stars" at all. We call them "meteors". They consist of a solid body and, moving in outer space, sometimes fall into the Earth's atmosphere.

When a meteor passes through our atmosphere, we can observe it as it leaves a bright trail in the sky. This comes from the fact that as a result of the friction of the surface of the meteor on the air, heat is released.

Surprisingly, most meteors are very small, no bigger than a pinhead. Some meteors can weigh up to several tons. Most meteors burn up completely in the atmosphere, and only large meteors reach the Earth's surface. According to scientists, thousands of meteors fall on Earth every day, but since most of the Earth is covered by seas and oceans, meteors fall mainly there.

We may see a single meteor flying in any direction, but usually we see meteor showers made up of thousands of shooting stars. When the Earth crosses a meteor shower, a huge mass of meteors, falling into the upper atmosphere, heats up, and then we see a "meteor shower".

How did meteors appear? Modern astronomers believe that these meteor showers are the remnants of comets. When a comet is destroyed, millions of its particles continue to move in space in the form of a stream of meteors. They move in circular orbits. Every 33 years, the Earth crosses the orbit of such a meteor shower.

A meteor that hits the earth's surface is called a meteorite. It falls to Earth due to gravity. In 467 BC, a meteorite was recorded in ancient Rome. This event was considered so important that even ancient Roman historians noted it.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

When were jousting tournaments banned?

Knightly tournaments were banned after the French King Henry II was mortally wounded during the tournament on July 10, 1559. The death of the king was accidental: the broken spear of his opponent, sliding along the shield, hit the golden visor and, piercing it, pierced Henry's eye. By the way, this was the first of the fulfilled prophecies of Nostradamus (1503-1566), published in his "Book of Prophecies" in 1555.

In 1556, the French Queen Catherine de Medici was shown a quatrain in which her husband, Henry II, was predicted to die during a jousting tournament, and she immediately summoned Nostradamus to Paris. The meeting was quite peaceful, Nostradamus even became a secret occult friend of the Queen.

On the night of the king's death, a crowd of angry people gathered in front of the building of the Holy Inquisition in Paris and demanded a trial of the soothsayer, who was saved only by the intercession of the king's widow.

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Shortest travel mechanical switches 12.09.2017

Mechanical keyboards are popular with everyone from hardcore gamers to heavy typists. But due to the fact that people often work on laptops, they develop a habit of typing on keyboards with a short stroke. Appropriate switches to create desktop keyboards with this travel were inevitable and they already exist on the market. But progress does not stand still and new, more and more interesting models appear.

Kaihua, the owner of the Kailh brand, has announced that its new model, the Choc PG1232, is the shortest-stroke in the world. Indeed, the stem of these switches travels only 2,4 mm (with a tolerance of +/- 0,5 mm), with only 1,2 mm travel before actuation. Tactile novelties are quite "heavy" - they require a force of 50 grams at the actuation point and 60 grams at the "click" point. This is only slightly less than full-stroke models.

In comparison, the PG1350 has 3mm of travel with an actuation point of around 1,5mm. The developer claims the reliability of PG1232 at 25 million clicks, which is half the usual; moreover, the aforementioned PG1350s have a lifespan of 70 million clicks. These models have compatible keycap mounts.

So far, only the "white" (with a "click") version is available, but if there is sufficient demand for new switches, Kaihua will release other "color" variations of the PG1232, such as "red" (linear) and "brown" (with improved tactile feedback). ).

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