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English Documentary on Shooting Stars with Transcript

Last updated on June 9, 2023 by in English Documentaries with Transcript Category with 8 Comments on English Documentary on Shooting Stars with Transcript, 88 Views and Reading Time: 2 minutes

English Documentary on Shooting Stars with Transcript with illustrated flashcards and an embedded podcast to improve your listening, reading and vocabulary for IELTS & TOEFL

Source of documentary: National Geographic YouTube Channel

Shooting stars

Nearly 50 tons of space debris crash onto the earth every day. While some debris shyly dissipate into the atmosphere, others display a spectacular light show.

Meteor shower

Meteor showers occur when the Earth’s orbit intersects with the orbit of a comet. As comets travel, they leave behind trails of rocky material oftentimes the size of pebbles or grains of sand, but sometimes as large as boulders.

Meteoroid stream

Every year, the Earth crosses these trails of debris known as meteoroid streams and the planet becomes sprinkled with rocky material. The debris then race through the Earth’s atmosphere creating friction with air particles and generating vast amounts of heat.

This heat vaporizes and illuminates the debris as they fall, creating streaks of light in the sky popularly known as shooting stars.

Naming meteor showers

These celestial light shows are often named after the constellation where they appear to originate as seen from Earth’s surface. Meteor showers that seem to fall from the constellation Perseus are called the Perseids, And those appearing from the constellation, Gemini, are called the Geminids.

Timing of meteor shower

About 30 meteor showers can be seen from Earth throughout the course of a year. And because the showers are timed with Earth’s orbit, the celestial phenomena are cyclical and occur at regular intervals. For example, the Perseids meteor shower happens every August, and the Geminids meteor shower happens every December.

Shooting stars as symbols

Meteor showers have inspired awe and admiration for millennia. In Christian tradition, the Perseid meteor showers symbolize the tears of a saint, Saint Lawrence, who was executed in August of the year 258, and in the first century A.D., the astronomer, Ptolemy, believed that shooting stars were a sign of the gods looking upon mortals and listening to their wishes.

Inspiring everything from making wishes to reveling at the sky, meteor showers are a reminder of our place in a dynamic and beautiful cosmic ecosystem.


About Hajar Aziz Zanjani

Hajar Aziz Zanjani is a professional Persian / Farsi teacher and full-time content developer in Farsi at LELB Society. She has published hundreds of original Persian lessons, created hundreds of Persian podcasts, and taught so many Persian students all around the globe. She's got an MBA degree and is an SEO expert. Study our guest posting guidelines for authors.

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8 comments on “English Documentary on Shooting Stars with Transcript”

    • It largely depends on the clarity of sky at night and a little patience. With a bit of luck, you might be able to observe a shooting star some nights.

  1. The night sky and constellations have always been a way for people to think bigger and broaden their perspective on the world and the reason of existing.

    • Agreed. Looking into the immense ocean of stars, worlds, and galaxies makes us wonder how unimaginably limitless the entire universe is and how infinitesimal our Earth is in the cosmos!

  2. Shooting stars
    Nearly 50 tones of space debris crash onto the earth every day. While some debris shyly dissipate into the atmosphere, others display a spectacular light show.
    ◾ Meteor shower
    Meteor showers occur when the Earth’s orbit intersects with the orbit of a comet. As comets travel, they leave behind trails of rocky material oftentimes the size of pebbles or grains of sand, but sometimes as large as boulders.
    ◾ Meteoroid stream
    Every year, the Earth crosses these trails of debris known as meteoroid streams and the planet becomes sprinkled with rocky material.
    The debris then race through the Earth’s atmosphere creating friction with air particles and generating vast amounts of heat.
    ◾ shooting stars
    This heat vaporizes and illuminates the debris. As they fall, creating streaks of light in the sky popularly known as shooting stars.
    These celestial light shows are often named after the constellation where they appear to originate as seen Earth’s surface.
    Meteor showers that seem to fall from the constellation Perseus are called the Perseids. And those appearing from the constellation Gemini, are called the Geminids.
    ◾ Time of meteor shower
    About 30 meteor showers can be seen from Earth throughout the course of a year. And because the showers are timed with Earth’s orbit, the celestial phenomena are cyclical and occur at regular intervals. For example, the Perseid meteor shower happens every August and the Geminids meteor shower happens every December. Meteor showers have inspired awe and admiration for millennia.
    ◾ symbolize of meteor showers
    In Christian tradition, the Perseid meteor showers symbolize the tears of saint. Saint Lawrence who was executed in August of the year 258, and in the first century A.D., the astronomer Ptolemy believed that shooting stars were a sign of the gods looking upon mortals and listening to their wishes.
    Inspiring everything from making wishes to reveling at the sky. Meteor showers are reminder of our place in a dynamic and beautiful cosmic ecosystem.

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