NASA Tracks Shooting Stars to Give You More Chances at Wishes

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Oftentimes these meteors are traveling at 150,000 miles per hour about 50 miles above people’s heads, so it’s just a flicker that we might see from the corners of our eyes. The cameras capture everything that occurs in their scope, including some unexpected creatures like a bird that decided to rest on one of the lenses and block the view with its flittering wings.

In the morning, the cameras send all their data to one computer that crunches it instantaneously and plots the trajectory of the fireballs. All Cooke has to do is drink his coffee and check for an email with the information. When someone calls in to ask him what it is they saw the night before, the scientist can give them an answer right away. “I don’t have to look at this video frame by frame,” he explains. “The computers can do it now.” Or, you can check it out for yourself, see what’s hitting our atmosphere and relive the experience if you saw it firsthand.

Cooke is looking to augment the information with 12 more cameras east of the Mississippi; the next one being located in Cartersville, Geor. on March 17. The perfect place for a camera has a clear horizon and few bright lights around – and access to a fast Internet connection.

There are skeptics out there who groan at the idea of wishes upon shooting stars, but there’s still a reason for them to check out the website. The scientist tells the cautionary tale of a woman in the 1950s who was struck with a fragment of a space rock. Luckily, she didn’t die: The meteor piece crashed through her house, ricocheted off her nightstand and hit her, bruising her badly. At the very least, the website will let you know when to get out of the way if a meteor nears. Whatever the reason for your interest in shooting stars or fireballs, know that you’re not alone – and you haven’t been for centuries.

“People are just fascinated with rocks from space,” Cooke states. “It’s very simple to understand why.”

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