Story: Night sky

Meteors in Orion

Meteors in Orion

Meteors are particles of space matter that burn up and produce streaks of light as they enter earth’s atmosphere. These two meteors were photographed near the constellation of Orion, whose three central stars are just below the meteors. Rigel is the bright white star above the meteor’s tail, and Betelgeuse is the orange star at the bottom of the photograph. The fuzzy red star to the right of the streak is the Orion Nebula, the birthplace of new stars.

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How to cite this page:

John Field and Maggy Wassilieff, 'Night sky - Earth’s near neighbours', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/7899/meteors-in-orion (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by John Field and Maggy Wassilieff, published 12 Jun 2006