Astro-Pennies From Heaven?
Dear Nosy Hal:
Help! The sky is falling on top of me!
I have just about reached my wit’s end.
— Desperately, CHICKEN LITTLE
Dear Desperately;
You are absolutely right. All the time, the sky is indeed “falling” on us, all over the world. Their scientific names are “meteorites” and “meteroids.”
Fear not, however. Unless they are enormous and dangerous, they will burn up long before hitting you or fatally injuring you.
I myself prefer to call them “trickle-down astro-prosperity,” because you sometimes can get big bucks from them.
In other words, they are ‘Pennies from Heaven”!
For more info, see
www.meteorite-list-archives.com
http://www.almanac.com/content/meteor-showers-guide
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/science-pennies-from-heaven-1044873.html
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/meteor_shower.shtml
nosyhal 