From shooting stars to micro space rocks
Discover how you can get involved in the study of space from the comfort of your own home
Dr Stephen Grimes
Associate Professor in Stable Isotope Geochemistry and Climate Change
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
A meteor, also known as a shooting star, is a piece of space rock (a meteoroid) that enters a planet's atmosphere at high-speed creating a streak of light in the sky.
If a meteoroid survives its trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's called a meteorite.
A micrometeorite is a tiny meteorite, typically ranging in size from a fraction of a millimetre (0.05mm) to around a millimetre in size.
They, like meteorites, are remnants of comets, asteroids, and other celestial bodies that have entered the Earth’s atmosphere and survived the descent to the Earth’s surface.
Close up of a Perseid meteor seen over Â鶹´«Ã½ - 11 August 2024
A sporadic meteor seen over Â鶹´«Ã½ – 6 June 2024
Five nights during the Perseid meteor shower – August 2024
When can I see meteors?
If you are lucky, you can see meteors any night of the year.
With that said though, you increase your chances of seeing, and photographing, a meteor during one of the yearly meteor showers.
A meteor shower is a celestial event that occurs when the Earth passes through the debris left behind by a comet or asteroid resulting in many meteors entering the atmosphere in a short period of time.
There are 12 meteor showers per year, with the biggest three being:
- the Quadrantids in January
- the Perseid in August
- and the Geminids in December.
More information about the meteor showers can be found on the .
Are there any citizen science projects relating to the study of meteors that I can get involved in?
Yes, via the (GMN). The GMN is a worldwide organisation of amateur and professional astronomers alike, utilises highly sensitive low-cost CMOS video cameras which run open-source meteor detection software on Raspberry Pi computers.
The main goal of the GMN is to provide long-term characterisation of the radiants, flux, and size distribution of annual meteor showers and outbursts in the optical meteor mass range.
The UK branch of the GMN is called the with over 200 cameras located across the UK.
In addition to the GMN, there are also several citizen science projects you can get involved in that use radio waves rather than cameras to detect meteors. The most prominent one is the (RMOB).
You can get involved in these citizen science projects as either an individual, as a community group, or as a school/college.
Star trail over Â鶹´«Ã½ – 13 July 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½'s GMN 3D camera view