What really holds your breath is the light.
This is a bright flare with a clear shadow on the Siberian sky behind it.
You can be fascinated by the video and watch the white-
The ancient stone burns hot in the atmosphere.
Then it disappeared, and the short encounter of heaven and earth left a bone --
Ripples of sound and broken windows. The 17-
On Friday, a large asteroid over Russia's cheyabinsk became a meteor, causing a worldwide sensation.
Not every day, there is room to drop 500.
A camera with a large population exploded in the air. laden city.
What moved the whole Earth was a collective moment of wonder.
But in yesterday's news, we may take a little time to pause and reflect.
We may let this encounter drown us out and let it take us from The wow of the moment-
A space for meditation.
With the exception of a clear night, a beautiful meadow and some spare time, any one of us could lie on our back and wait for a meteor.
The meteor is always there waiting for our attention.
Eyes on Fridaypopping, ear-
The separation of meteors over Russia is an invitation to look up.
This is the call from the sky, staring at the sky, accepting the cosmic background of life.
You see, the information is about debris.
The solar system is a long one.
Construction projects.
It was originally a huge rolling cloud of interstellar gas and dust crossing light years-
It's about 10 trillion kilometers, if you can think about that number.
The cloud crashes under its own gravity and folds inward.
Some substances fall directly into the center of the clouds to form a bright sun.
But, like a spinning Olympic skater pulling his arm inward, when the Nova crashes, the cloud part that doesn't fall directly on her spins faster and faster.
This fast-spinning gas eventually forms a dense disk around the new sun.
Over the next few million years, the dust in this spinning pan collided to form tiny pebbles. These sun-
The pebbles on the track continue to block and slowly form meters
Small rocks in the process.
The collision with the superior Union continues: The rock collided to form a boulder;
Boulders collide to form mountains;
Mountains merge into the embryo of the planet.
Hundreds of millions of years later, a series of collisions have basically ended, with the sun being its modern-
Days of the planetary family.
Eight worlds, from Mercury's small iron ball to the swirling psychedelic cloud of gas Jupiter.
However, construction waste has never disappeared.
Like a pile of waste left behind after the building was built, our homes in space are still filled with unused "bricks" that slowly cross through the gaps in planetary orbit.
Between Mars and Jupiter, a asteroid belt revolves around the Sun, proving a possible planet.
Beyond the distant Neptune, there is a kilometer-long stretch.
The muddy ice hockey is floating in space.
Some of these objects in the koibel belt are now large enough to be called dwarf planets (
Like poor orphan Pluto).
When gravity pulls the comet into the embrace of the solar system, some are small enough to be a comet.
Outside the Solar System --
More than 50,000 times the Earth's orbit from the sun.
Sitting at the ortcloud.
This is an area of comet material, waiting patiently for a passing star to knock a part of the cloud into millions
A year trip to the sun.
Without the stories of these lonely intruders, the narrative of the solar system would be incomplete.
More importantly, our own story is incomplete without these actors.
In our world, perhaps in others, the trajectory of life is both a hostage to these ruthless invaders and a beneficiary of them.
Planets are gravity wells in the overall structure of the solar system. From sand-
Rock debris of the size blown from the surface of the comet --
When the debris is too close to the planet's gravity, their orbit moves.
When planets and debris collide in dazzling flashes, a large enough movement can cause an impact.
Every once in a while, terrible slaughter happens.
These effects are an important chapter in the early story of the solar system.
Life on Earth may have started more than once before the Earth was disinfected in the catastrophic effects of so-
About 4 billion years ago, it was called the late bombing.
On the other hand, the blue of our planet
The green ocean may be a blessing to our world by colliding with water-rich comets and asteroids.
Some even think that life on Earth itself may be formed elsewhere (like Mars)
I came here as a hitchhiker.
For billions of years, the density of debris in the solar system has declined slowly.
However, this is not the importance of ending these freedoms --
Floating blocks.
The impact of the entire solar system continues, which may be the reason why Mars was once sparse.
Great atmosphere
On Earth, of course, 135million-
The year of the dinosaurs ended in a flash, a dazzling flash
An asteroid a kilometer wide hit our planet.
This is the fifth of six major extinction events in Earth's history.
It wiped out 75% of all species from the book of life.
While it is not clear whether any other mass extinction has come from space, it is clear that there are many, in the millions of years, sufficient effects as local disasters.
Meteor Crater is 1. 2-
170 wide-
50,000 years ago, the deep-meter crater in the Arizona desert was formed by an iron impact.
Rich asteroids.
Today, it is still a stark reminder of the power of the intruding of the universe, or even the relatively small ones.
This brings us back to the night, back to the grass where you lay up looking up at the stars.
We rarely give ourselves the freedom to do simple things. as empty —
Gaze at the night sky for entertainment.
Given the proliferation of street lights and urban lighting, you may even have to work for this freedom, drive out of town to find a dark enough space for the stars to present for you.
Once you get there, it's time to surrender to the night.
It's time to watch and wait.
It may take an hour or 10 minutes, but it will come sooner or later.
There is a flash in the dark sky, a bright stripe.
At that moment, there was a sudden breath of surprise in your throat.
You saw a shooting star.
You caught a glimpse of a meteor.
This is an ancient ritual that now gives new meaning because unlike thousands of generations in the past, you know the truth.
You can meet that billion. year-
The old stone knew exactly what it was and where it came from.
"Brothers and Sisters," you may whisper in the night, "welcome;
Your long journey is over.