NASA Partnership

Meteoroid Environment Office

The James A. Smith Planetarium is one of 15 sites across the continental U.S. that monitors and records meteor activity for NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO). The MEO is headquartered at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, AL. These observing stations are collectively known as the All Sky Fireball Network. By observing the same meteor from multiple locations (and therefore different angles), the path of the object can be determined. When combined with data from other stations, our data can be used to help calculate the trajectory, speed, orbital characteristics and in some cases, even the estimated size of the meteors! Our station is the dark green circle (in the NW corner of GA) on the map below.

Meteor Events

Meteors are pieces of space debris that enter Earth's atmosphere and appear as bright streaks traveling across the night sky. Exceptionally bright meteors are called fireballs. Meteors can range in size from tiny grains, to pebbles, boulders and even car sized objects. Before entering the atmosphere, they are called meteoroids. The vast majority of meteors are small and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, but occasionally, larger objects can make it all the way down to the surface. Meteors that do reach the surface are called meteorites.

Meteor showers happen when a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from a single point in the night sky called the radiant. This occurs when the Earth passes through the debris field left by a comet. The showers take their name from the constellation where the radiant is located. The best time to watch is after midnight, when we are on the side of the Earth that is facing the same direction as our path of orbital motion around the sun. The highest meteoric flux rates (measured in meteors per hr.) occur during this time. Over the years, our station has recorded hundreds of meteor events. Below are some of the brightest and most notable images that have been captured by our meteor camera.