Can a comet became a shooting star? Is a shooting star a comet befor its a shooting star?
Let's get our terms straight first...
A shooting star is anything visible to us on the surface as it burns do to the friction of entering the atmosphere. That could be artificial satellites, meteors, or possibly comets. So something only becomes what we would call a shooting star after it enters the atmosphere.
If a comet ever entered our atmosphere, however, it is likely we would be too busy screaming and running in panicked circles to notice the pretty light show. Comets are usually much larger than metoroids, often many kilometers across, and any impact with Earth would cause a great deal of devastation. Fortunately for us, an impact with a comet is extremely unlikely.
So to answer your first question, yes, a comet CAN become a shooting star, but it is not likely and would not look like any shooting star we would be familiar with. Picture something like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zvCUmeoHpw
It's not a question of could it happen. It's really a question of when it's going to happen next. There is no doubt that at some point in Earth's future, it will impact with an asteroid. It's happened multiple times already, and we have near-misses with planet-killing objects more often than you might want to think about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impactevent#Close-approachesand_forecasts
On average in our history, asteroids/comets large enough to cause a major planet-wide catastrophe has occurred once every 10 million years. Going by that average, we're currently 50 million years overdue. Sleep tight! :)
That vidoeo is like the coolest !! scary at the same time tough lol.. Could that ever really happen to earth ?? Xo:)
I need info for school about this so add a lot of info!!
Oh ye im really gonna sleep now lol... Xo:)
yes a comant is a shooting star!!!
