To leave a lasting trail, meteors need to aim low. A new survey of shooting stars shows that meteors that blaze through 90 kilometers up in the sky leave a persistent afterglow, unlike those that burn up at greater heights.

Meteors are normally blink-and-you’ll-miss-it events. A particle of space dust leaves a fiery trail of light as it zips through the atmosphere, and then it’s gone. But sometimes, a meteor leaves a lingering afterglow. Astronomers have noted these persistent trains for more than a century, but questions remained about their origins.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/why-some-meteors-leave-lasting-trails

Fascinating research on meteors! The study reveals that meteors leaving a lasting trail do so when they burn up lower in the sky. This discovery sheds light on the mysterious origins of persistent meteor afterglows. 🌠