Meteor showers supply impressive skywatching alternatives for observers at the flooring as meteoroids — grains of cosmic mud left by means of comets — fritter away, generating good “capturing stars” as they input Earth’s surroundings.The following large meteor bathe to grace our skies is the Perseid meteor bathe which is predicted to height round Aug. 11-12. But if a meteor bathe douses Earth, does it pose any danger to satellites, spacecraft or astronauts at the Global House Station (ISS)?Generally, completely no longer, mentioned Invoice Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Atmosphere Workplace at Marshall House Flight Heart in Alabama.”In case you are within the ISS, meteoroids pose 0 chance,” Cooke advised House.com.How the ISS is secure from meteoroidsAstronauts are secure from meteoroids since the ISS is supplied with a “Whipple bumper.” Named after its inventor, Fred Whipple — who advanced the “grimy snowball” type that describes the make-up of comets — the defend options sheets of steel with Kevlar between them. The defend does not deflect meteoroids, however it breaks them up, dispersing their power into the defend.”The chances of a meteoroid penetrating the gap station are vanishingly small — you’ll call to mind the gap station because the tank of low Earth orbit,” Cooke mentioned. “Should you have been an astronaut on EVA [extravehicular activity, i.e., a spacewalk] and also you went out of doors the gap station, you might see these types of little pips and dents within the hull.”
An obvious micrometeoroid struck a Russian Soyuz on Dec. 14, 2022 inflicting a coolant leak, whilst the spacecraft was once docked to the Global House Station. (Symbol credit score: NASA)On the other hand, most effective about part of the ones dents are led to by means of meteoroid moves. On the ISS’ altitude of between 230 and 285 miles (370 to 460 kilometers), part of the affects are led to by means of house junk as a substitute, and from time to time, the ISS should maneuver to keep away from house junk. In truth, meteor showers pose infrequently any downside to the ISS, in keeping with Cooke. Statistically, it’s the sporadic background of meteoroids — the bits of cosmic mud which are at all times there, unassociated with any bathe — that give a contribution 90% to 95% of the chance, specifically to spacewalking astronauts who do not need that bumper shielding. That is why, sooner than any spacewalk, Cooke’s workplace problems a meteoroid forecast to verify there’s no heightened chance of an twist of fate.What are meteor storms?
The Geminid meteor bathe can produce over 100 meteors in step with hour. On this {photograph}, the Geminid meteor bathe is observed above the Kubuqi Desolate tract of Inside Mongolia, China on Dec. 13, 2020. (Symbol credit score: bjdlzx by means of Getty Photographs)The most powerful annual meteor bathe, the Geminids, which height in December, poses most effective about 60% the chance of the sporadic background, in keeping with Cooke. “Handiest all the way through a meteor hurricane or outburst are the meteor charges considerably increased,” he mentioned.A meteor hurricane, or meteor outburst, is an amped-up meteor bathe with probably greater than 1000 meteors visual within the sky in step with hour. Meteor showers happen when Earth passes throughout the path of mud left by means of a comet. Earth encounters those quite a lot of trails on the identical issues in its orbit every 12 months, which is why every meteor bathe happens on the identical time every 12 months. On the other hand, we get a meteor hurricane when Earth passes thru a denser patch of mud than same old.Only some meteor showers revel in storms. The Leonids, which height in November, have a number of consecutive years of storms spaced 33 years aside. The final Leonid storms have been between 1998 and 2001, so the following are scheduled to happen within the early 2030s, when Earth will come upon that specifically dense clump of mud from comet Tempel-Tuttle.Much less predictable are the storms of the Draconid meteor bathe, which peaks in October. Ordinarily, the Draconids supply a somewhat drab spectacle, as they’re composed of predominantly faint and slow-moving meteors, however in 1933, a Draconids hurricane led to 6,000 meteors in step with hour. The final hurricane, in 2018, produced a relatively meager 150 meteors in step with hour.
Composite symbol appearing the Perseid meteor bathe in 2021, above Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. (Symbol credit score: Alan Dyer/Stocktrek Photographs by means of Getty Photographs)Then, there may be the Perseid meteor bathe, which peaks in August and will randomly surge for a couple of hours; the latest such outburst was once in 2021.Storms and outbursts are “batten-down-the-hatches varieties of deal,” Cooke mentioned. Whilst the gap station’s bumper defend nonetheless protects astronauts inside of, spacewalks are postponed and different satellites and spacecraft will have to take precautions. For instance, the Hubble House Telescope reorients itself so it isn’t taking a look on the meteor bathe radiant (the route the meteors are coming from). Cooke likened it to “the nuclear assault place, along with your rear dealing with the radiant.’ The chance of meteor showers to satellitesThe chance to any given satellite tv for pc is minimum as a result of personally, they’ve a small cross-section, a couple of tens of sq. meters. When put next, the ISS’ sun arrays on my own span 114,000 sq. toes (10,600 sq. m), or even this is dwarfed by means of the large expanse of the evening sky.”Once I lay on my again, taking a look up on the evening sky, I am taking in kind of 30,000 sq. kilometers [12,000 square miles] of surroundings that the meteors are burning up in,” Cooke mentioned. “Now examine that to tens of sq. meters. So the percentages of a meteor hitting a satellite tv for pc are small.”The chance isn’t 0, alternatively. On uncommon events, satellites were hit, even if the one satellite tv for pc ever to be completely taken out by means of a meteor bathe was once an Olympus communications satellite tv for pc all the way through a Perseid outburst in 1993. A couple of others have recorded anomalies because of a small affect, and one or two have even been knocked on their facet by means of a meteoroid strike.”For instance, an NOAA satellite tv for pc was once hit a couple of years in the past, and that satellite tv for pc roughly were given bumped a little bit bit; it tilted ahead so its digital camera was once not taking a look on the Earth, and we needed to get it again pointing the appropriate approach,” Cooke mentioned.How you’ll helpThe Meteoroid Atmosphere Workplace’s tracking of meteor showers is determined by observations from the bottom, the place meteor charges are counted, alerting scientists to any impromptu outbursts that would impact satellites or spacewalkers. Meteor observations can come from skilled radar, such because the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, which is controlled by means of researchers on the College of Western Ontario, and the Southern Argentina Agile Meteor Radar. Beginner astronomers too can supply observations. For instance, the World Meteor Community is composed of over 1000 cameras international, whilst organizations such because the American Meteor Society, the United Kingdom Fireball Alliance, the British Astronomical Affiliation and the Global Meteor Group all settle for reviews from newbie astronomers. So, the following time you rely capturing stars all the way through a meteor bathe, word what number of you notice, what time and date they happen, their colour, how shiny they’re, and the route during which they go back and forth. (A just right telescope let you get a extra detailed view.) Then, publish your report back to one of the vital above organizations. Your observations may just give a contribution to protective a satellite tv for pc or a spacewalking astronaut.Total, low Earth orbit is lovely protected from meteors.”This perception of meteor showers being this swarm of particles that blows satellites to kingdom come — that is all Hollywood,” Cooke mentioned. “That by no means occurs.”
