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Stars in Space
Name: mike guerra
Status: student
Age: 8
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1999 - 2000
Question:
Is a star that is traveling
through space falling or going up?
Replies:
Hi Mike,
All of the stars we can see without using a telescope belong to our galaxy, the
Milky Way. The Milky Way rotates, although not "rigidly", like a wheel; some
parts of it take longer to make one trip around than others. Some of the stars
are getting closer to the Earth, and some are moving farther away. We don't have to worry about one
falling on us; they are all so very far away that we won't ever get hit by one.
Actually, if a star could get close to the Earth, the Earth would fall into the
star instead of the star falling on the Earth. Stars are MUCH bigger (more massi ve) than the
Earth.
Sometimes meteors are called "shooting stars"; they aren't really stars
at all, but instead are bits of rock (mostly dust or sand-sized, though
occasionally they can be as big as a boulder). If you see one, it's
probably only a few miles above you, and it IS falling (probably at an
angle) to the Earth, very fast (that's why they become visible: friction
with the air makes them glow, and usually they burn up long before they
can reach the ground.)
RC Winther
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Update: June 2012
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