Credit & Copyright: Unknown
Explanation:
Meteors, also called shooting stars, normally begin as bits of
dust from the tails of comets or even small pieces chipped off asteroids.
Falling toward Earth, these
particles enter the atmosphere at extremely high speeds. Friction
with the air heats them up and makes them glow brightly. Their rapid
motion across the sky causes them to show up as bright streaks in
photographs. In this picture,
however, the bright streaks
which appear to be meteor trails are believed
to be two large pieces of the
Apollo 13
spacecraft, the service and lunar modules, reentering the atmosphere.
For more information about the picture see the NASA photo caption.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: apollo 13
Publications with words: apollo 13
See also: