A Japanese company has confirmed plans to create an artificial star shower in just over a year.
Star showers, or meteor showers, is one of the most memorable, and at the same time common, phenomena; without going any further, at the time of writing these words many people are waiting for the lenidas.
However, as a natural phenomenon that it is, it could be said that it does not always rain to everyone’s taste. Depending on where you live, you may have never seen a shower of stars; Or the meteorology may have prevented them from being seen clearly. That may change very soon.
A star shower is nothing more than the effect that occurs when a series of small meteoroids (the size of a grain of sand for the most part) penetrates the Earth’s atmosphere; It normally depends on the passage of comets or other objects, which these particles leave behind.
The plan to create an artificial star shower
Now ALE, a Japanese company, ensures that it can achieve the same effect as a star shower; It won’t be a cheap operation, but at least it’s expected to be pretty, as pretty as natural rain.
And it is that the process involves launching a microsatlite into the terrestrial atmosphere, something that does not cost small change precisely although it only measures 50 centimeters on a side; After receiving the order from the ground, the satellite will drop several balls of different metals, which will produce different colors on its reentry into the atmosphere.
ALE has experimented with all kinds of materials for pellets; Although it ensures that a secret composition will make them shine more than normal. In fact, it is expected that they can be seen despite the light pollution of the big cities, since they will shine brighter than the brightest stars in the celestial vault. The artificial star shower can be seen within a radius of 100 kilometers, and the balls will disintegrate before falling to the ground.
For the inaugural launch, ALE has chosen the city of Hiroshima; The plan is for the show to take place in early 2019, although no specific date has been released. Depending on the meteorological conditions, which have been one of the reasons for choosing Hiroshima at that time; At the same time, it is surely a deserved tribute to the city.
For the moment, tests have already started with up to 300 pellets of empty material, to check how they will behave. Get to be more spectacular than the real meteor showers?