Artificial Meteor Showers And Shooting Stars Possible In 2018

Artificial meteor showers will soon be possible if a Japanese startup's efforts become successful. 

The company, Star ALE plans to develop a type of artificial meteor that it can launch from satellites, Forbes reported. These man-made meteor showers can therefore be tasked to light up the sky whenever there is a need or desire for it.

The showers can be launched at specific times and locations. While the startup's idea seems to be more about entertainment and business, the project may generate new insights into a part of the Earth's atmosphere that is still quite unknown. 

The company is already at the stage of testing and developing the technology. If successful, the man-made meteor showers or shooting stars can be launched as early as 2018. 

The satellite itself will be supplied by the Japanese company Axelspace. It is expected to have a size of around 50 x 50 x 50 centimetres. The satellite will have important roles to play on this project. It will be used to deliver the equipment for communication and control, the meteor launcher system as well as the meteors themselves. ALE intend to put up to 1000 micro-meteors in each unit of satellite. Once completed, the whole system will weigh at least 50 kilograms.

Once the satellite is at the orbit, it is designed to fly in a sun-synchronous orbit over the North and South Pole. At a speed of 7.8 kilometres a second, each orbit can be completed at around 90 minutes. As the Earth spins on its axis, the satellites can pass several regions at each orbit. This will be akin to cutting the planet Earth into segments like an orange. Once the satellite has passed over the intended area area, a signal from Earth will alert it as to when and how many of its micro-meteorites it should set off.

 "This type of project is new in the sense in that it mixes astronomy and the entertainment business," Star-ALE founder and chief executive officer Lena Okajima stated in her corporate profile. "These shooting stars that are born through science function as a high-profit entertainment business, and the resulting funds will serve to further advance fundamental scientific research," she added.