Meteors are dust and rock left by comets. Earth passes through the debris trail annually — peak showers produce up to 150 meteors/hour. Friction with the atmosphere at 70 km altitude creates the glowing streak.
Controls
Rate (per min)30
Speed1.2
Trail length80
Brightness1.0
Star density280
Total: 0 | Active: 0 | Peak: 0/hr
Radiant Point Diagram
All meteors in a shower appear to originate from a single point — the radiant. This is a perspective effect: parallel meteor paths converge at a vanishing point, like train tracks. Each shower is named after its radiant constellation.
Shower Select
Active shower
Radiant spread0.06
Perspective depth0.5
Atmospheric Entry
At 20–70 km/s entry speed, kinetic energy converts to heat. Smaller meteors ablate entirely. Larger bolides cause sonic booms, light flashes, and occasionally impact craters. Only ~1 in 10,000 reaches the surface.
Entry Parameters
Size8
Entry speed1.0
Angle35°
Debris count80
Meteor Spectrograph
Each element emits a unique spectrum. Magnesium glows blue-white, sodium orange-yellow, iron red, calcium cyan. Spectral analysis reveals a meteor's composition.
Composition
Mg (blue-white)0.7
Na (orange)0.5
Fe (red)0.4
Ca (cyan)0.3
Speed1.0
Solar System Orbit View
Comets shed dust as they near the Sun. The debris trail persists along the comet's orbit. When Earth's path crosses this trail, we see a meteor shower. The same shower repeats every year at the same date.