WORLD
World's first artificial meteor shower scheduled for 2019 with shooting stars to fill skies over Hiroshima
Baku, November 22,
The trouble with wishing upon a shooting star is there's never one around when you need one - until now, according to Mirror.
A Japanese space entertainment startup is preparing to stage the world's first artificial meteor shower in 2019, using a purpose-built satellite to create a spectacular display of shooting stars.
The company, called ALE , claims it can produce shooting stars anywhere, any time, in any color, by releasing "pellets" from the satellite, which burst in to flames as they enter the Earth's atmosphere.
These pellets are designed to burn brighter and longer than natural meteors - lasting for between five and ten seconds each - and will be visible for 100 kilometers (62 miles) in every direction.
Details of the project were first revealed in 2015 , but ALE has now announced the Shooting Star Challenge - a trial run of the satellite, which will be held over Hiroshima in 2019.
A satellite holding between 300 and 400 meteor pellets will be placed into orbit about 310 miles above Australia in late 2018. From there, it will release the pellets towards Japan.
The pellets will take about 15 minutes to fall to a height of 37 miles above Setouchi, at which point they will begin to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
This part of Hiroshima was chosen as the test site for the artificial meteor shower due to its popularity, nice scenery, and high rate of clear skies, according to Rocket News .