The Astrology of Space - Matrix Software

The Astrology of Space
There are two main types of meteors: sporadic and
recurrent meteors (showers). Sporadic meteors may
be seen on almost any night of the year at a rate of 5
to 7 per hour and show no preferred direction in the
sky. The greatest frequency of sporadic meteors
occurs after, rather than before, midnight. Between
midnight and dawn an observer is facing the same
direction as the Earth is moving in its orbit and he can
see all of the meteors formed by the meteoroids
traveling toward him (from the left), no matter what
their velocity). On the other hand, between dusk and
midnight, the only meteors that are visible are those
produced by meteoroids coming toward him (from the
right) with sufficient velocity to overtake the Earth.
The other type of meteor that occurs is the meteor
shower. Meteor showers occur at relatively fixed
times of year and seem to originate from a fixed point
in the heavens known as a radiant. Meteor showers
take their names from the constellation or star near
where their radiant position is located and most occur
each year with great regularity. The display of the
Leonid shower on November 12, 1833 was so striking
that meteors were described as "falling like
snowflakes from the sky" and no section of the
heavens was not filled with thousands of meteors.
These permanent showers occur as the Earth sweeps
through the concentrations of dust and debris in
space. This debris is moving in orbit about the Sun.
After A few days, the Earth moves through and
beyond the particular debris. Orbits of a general sort
are known for the principal showers and some of the
major showers are presented in the diagram above.
Most meteor shows occur regularly each year, some
every few years, and in several cases a shower has
been completely lost or has vanished.
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