Meteors, satellites and what to report

What moves across the sky

• Meteor ("shooting star"): a very fast streak, under a second. It is a grain of dust burning up in the atmosphere.
• Fireball: a very bright meteor, sometimes coloured, that can break apart.
• Satellite: a point crossing the sky silently and at a steady speed over a few minutes, without blinking. The International Space Station is very bright.
• Starlink train: a line of evenly spaced points, mainly visible after launches.
• Aircraft: blinking lights, often red and green.

Watching a meteor shower

Lie down, take in a wide patch of sky and give your eyes time to adapt. You see more after midnight, because that side of Earth is heading "into" the meteors. The rate in the calendar is theoretical: under a real sky you see fewer.

A good report on GAIA

1. Write down the time straight away, even approximately to the minute.
2. Remember the direction you were facing and where it moved from and to.
3. Estimate the duration by counting seconds.
4. Describe the colour, brightness and any fragmentation.
5. Attach a photo only if it is yours: even a blurry photo can help.

The more detail you add, the easier it is to find compatible reports from other observers.