Fig. 347.
Shooting-stars are seen to move in all directions through the heavens. Their apparent paths are, however, generally inclined downward, though sometimes upward; and after midnight they come in the greatest numbers from that quarter of the heavens toward which the earth is moving in its journey around the sun.
306. Meteors.—Occasionally these bodies are brilliant enough to illuminate the whole heavens. They are then called meteors, although this term is equally applicable to ordinary shooting-stars. Such a meteor is shown in Fig. 348.
Fig. 348.
Sometimes these brilliant meteors are seen to explode, as shown in Fig. 349; and the explosion is accompanied with a loud detonation, like the discharge of cannon.
Fig. 349.
Ordinary shooting-stars are not accompanied by any audible sound, though they are sometimes seen to break in pieces. Meteors which explode with an audible sound are called detonating meteors.