<p>I clicked on a Yahoo News link <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/watch-perseids-best-meteor-shower-151500044.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">How to watch the Perseids — the best meteor shower of the year</a> and saw the following sentence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The meteors are very fast and bright, regularly leaving long tails of light and color behind them as they streak across the sky at around 37 miles per second. They are also known for their fireballs, big explosions of bright light and color that last longer than an average meteor streak.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Okay sounds exciting. Then I saw:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Earlier in the night, skywatchers have the opportunity to spot a rare earthgrazer, a long, slow and colorful meteor moving across the horizon.</strong> In the Southern Hemisphere, meteors will begin to appear around midnight.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Questions:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>What <em>exactly</em> is a &quot;rare earthgrazer&quot;? (see below)</li>
<li>Why might I see one during the Perseids &quot;earlier in the night&quot;?</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> Please explain what an earthgrazer actually is and why it is described as &quot;a long, slow and colorful meteor moving across the horizon&quot;. Why does this kind of meteor only appear near the horizon, why is it colorful, and why is it more likely earlier in the evening.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-13T09:03:26.340Z
Are you talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-grazing_fireball?
Nilay Ghosh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-13T10:39:58.697Z
@NilayGhosh I'm curious what the article is talking about. *If it's that,* then we have to understand why they move slowly, across the horizon, for the Perseids.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-13T10:43:42.710Z
I don't have the full answer but I can comment on the "why move slowly?". From that article: "As an Earth-grazer passes through the atmosphere its mass and velocity are changed, so that its orbit, as it re-enters space, will be different from its orbit as it encountered Earth's atmosphere."
Nilay Ghosh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-13T10:47:04.910Z
@NilayGhosh Now that I think about it more, the article mentions "across the horizon" which makes them farther away, so perhaps they would have a lower *apparent* angular velocity than those passing directly overhead which are a lot closer?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-13T11:08:41.957Z
Kind of yes (but I am not sure though).
Nilay Ghosh
<amateur-observing><meteor><meteor-shower>
What is a "rare earthgrazer" and why might I see one during the Perseids "earlier in the night" moving slow, across the horizon?
uhoh
# What is a "rare earthgrazer" and why might I see one during the Perseids "earlier in the night" moving slow, across the horizon?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-13)

I clicked on a Yahoo News link [How to watch the Perseids — the best meteor shower of the year](https://news.yahoo.com/watch-perseids-best-meteor-shower-151500044.html) and saw the following sentence:

> The meteors are very fast and bright, regularly leaving long tails of light and color behind them as they streak across the sky at around 37 miles per second. They are also known for their fireballs, big explosions of bright light and color that last longer than an average meteor streak.

Okay sounds exciting. Then I saw:

> **Earlier in the night, skywatchers have the opportunity to spot a rare earthgrazer, a long, slow and colorful meteor moving across the horizon.** In the Southern Hemisphere, meteors will begin to appear around midnight.

**Questions:**

1. What *exactly* is a "rare earthgrazer"? (see below)
2. Why might I see one during the Perseids "earlier in the night"?

**Note:** Please explain what an earthgrazer actually is and why it is described as "a long, slow and colorful meteor moving across the horizon". Why does this kind of meteor only appear near the horizon, why is it colorful, and why is it more likely earlier in the evening.

**Tags:** amateur-observing, meteor, meteor-shower

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-grazing_fireball?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I'm curious what the article is talking about. *If it's that,* then we have to understand why they move slowly, across the horizon, for the Perseids.  
> **username_1**: I don't have the full answer but I can comment on the "why move slowly?". From that article: "As an Earth-grazer passes through the atmosphere its mass and velocity are changed, so that its orbit, as it re-enters space, will be different from its orbit as it encountered Earth's atmosphere."  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Now that I think about it more, the article mentions "across the horizon" which makes them farther away, so perhaps they would have a lower *apparent* angular velocity than those passing directly overhead which are a lot closer?  
> **username_1**: Kind of yes (but I am not sure though).  

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## 0 answers

