The earth in its revolution about the sun encounters small bodies called meteoroids. Their velocity is so great that the resistance of the earth's atmosphere quickly raises their surfaces to white heat, thus converting them into meteors. These are the shooting stars that you see in the heavens almost any clear night. Sometimes they are very large, weighing tons. There is now in the Hall of the Royal Academy at Stockholm a fragment of meteoric iron that weighs 20 tons. We know from this that meteors actually fall to the earth. For a long time this was doubted by astronomers, although history relates several instances of a "star" colliding with the earth. Not long since, people looked upon a falling star as some kindof miracle, or sign. In the view only the path of the meteor is shown. It is the bright streak that stands out in the bottom of the view. Back of it are thousands of tiny white spots. These are all stars. The great, bright spots are stars in the constellation of Orion (-r´n). The three stars in line in the upper part of this view form Orion's "belt". The large spot in the center is the Great Nebula. The bright star to the right is Rigel, and the one near the meteor is Saiph. When you look at this scene you will recall the rime: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Though we know a little about the stars, we still wonder what they are. Keystone ID: 16647 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.