extend/ The emerging space company ALE will form the world’s first artificial meteor shower, which is scheduled to take place over Japan, as these meteors appear naturally when the Earth passes through a cloud of debris left by comets and asteroids in its orbit, and the particles emit light as they quickly heat up as they pass through the atmosphere. at high speeds.
According to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, for this project, called “SKY CANVAS”, particles of repeating meteorites will be installed in a satellite at an altitude of 250 miles (400 km), and then launched over a specified area.
These metallic particles will be balls about 0.4 inch (1 cm) in diameter and a few grams in mass.
The pea-sized balls contain a secret chemical formula that causes them to light up from the friction of re-entry, at speeds of up to five miles (8 kilometers) per second.
ALE says they will travel more slowly, shine longer than normal stars, up to ten seconds each, and be visible to stargazers as far as 125 miles (200 km).
The ingredients in the globules can be altered to change the color of each bright streak, which means that a multicolored fleet of meteors can be created.
Also, after about two years in orbit, the backpack-sized satellite will re-enter the atmosphere and completely disintegrate, preventing it from becoming space debris.
Not only will the light show be a viewing pleasure for stargazers, but it will also help gather data about the third layer of Earth’s atmosphere, the ‘mesosphere’.
This is not an easy area to study, as airships and planes cannot fly high enough to reach it, but it is too low to be observed by satellite.
But scientists will be able to gather information on wind speed and atmospheric composition by following the trajectory and light emission of artificial meteorites.
Engineers at ALE will be able to control the position, velocity and timing of meteorite particles to aid in experiments, and the team hopes the data will help inform weather models and ultimately increase our understanding of climate change.
Another goal of the project, which was first announced in 2015, is to help spark greater interest in space and science in general.