{"id":798670,"date":"2025-10-08T03:35:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T08:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=798670"},"modified":"2025-10-08T03:35:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T08:35:29","slug":"how-high-up-are-meteors-when-they-begin-to-glow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=798670","title":{"rendered":"How high up are meteors when they begin to glow?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nView at EarthSky Community Photos. | John Ashley submitted this photo taken on August 13, 2025, in Montana and wrote: \u201cBright Perseid meteor outshines moonlight (82% illuminated moon) over Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana. This was one of just a handful of bright meteors seen overnight.\u201d Thank you, John!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
How high up are meteors when they begin to glow?<\/h3>\n
The autumn meteor showers are underway. Have you ever wondered how high up they are when they begin to glow? It can vary and depends on the radiant of the meteor shower and the current phase of the moon. Meteors \u2013 in annual showers \u2013 like the Orionids are leftover dust particles from comets. These bits of cometary debris collide with Earth\u2019s atmosphere and vaporize. We see this collision as a streak of light across the sky \u2013 a meteor \u2013 or, more poetically, a shooting star<\/em> or falling star<\/em>. <\/p>\n
But how high up are meteors when they begin to glow? <\/p>\n
Meteors light up almost as soon as they hit Earth\u2019s atmosphere. So, on average, when you see a meteor, you\u2019re looking at a piece of dust burning bright about 50 to 75 miles (80 to 120 km) in altitude above Earth\u2019s surface. <\/p>\n
But the height at which they entirely burn up in the atmosphere varies. Some meteors, such as the Perseids in August, burn up in the atmosphere at about 60 miles (100 km) above Earth\u2019s surface. Other meteors, such as the Draconids in October, fall to about 40 miles (65 km) before they heat up enough to glow and vaporize.<\/p>\n
The difference is that the Draconids are much slower<\/em> meteors than the Perseids. The height in the atmosphere at which a meteor begins to glow depends on its arrival speed. Meteoroids dive into the atmosphere at speeds ranging from 25,000 to 160,000 miles per hour (40,200 to 257,500 km\/h).<\/p>\nView at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeremy Evans of California captured a Lyrid meteor zipping along the Milky way on April 22, 2025. Jeremy wrote: \u201cLyrids meteor shower, April 22nd at peak activity. It was a quiet shower this year. I had my camera going all night and only caught one meteor. This single frame is from an all-night 1,200 frame time lapse on my front deck, I\u2019m very fortunate to live under dark Bortle 2 skies. The glow on the horizon is from the last quarter moon just before rising.\u201d Thank you, Jeremy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nView at EarthSky Community Photos. | Victor Rogus captured this image on January 3, 2025, in Sedona, Arizona, and wrote: \u201cA very bright meteor, a bolide, struck just before dawn this morning. Our Oculus camera caught the strike. This may have been a Quadrantid meteor; that shower peaks tonight. I froze one night in the backwoods of Missouri to capture my one and only Quadrantid. So this one made my day!\u201d Thank you, Victor!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Speeds for annual meteor showers<\/h3>\n
There are a dozen major meteor showers every year, and many more minor ones.<\/p>\n
Here are some meteor arrival speeds:<\/p>\n
Leonids: 44 miles per second (71 km\/s) Perseids: 38 miles per second (61 km\/s) Orionids: 42 miles per second (67 km\/s) Lyrids: 30 miles per second (48 km\/s) Geminids: 22 miles per second (35 km\/s) Fall Taurids: 19 miles per second (30 km\/s) Delta Leonids: 14 miles per second (23 km\/s) Draconids: 14 miles per second (23 km\/s)<\/p>\n
By the way, the length of a meteor\u2019s path across the sky doesn\u2019t depend entirely on the meteor\u2019s arrival speed. It depends mostly on the angle at which the particle of dust slices through the atmosphere. If the particle arrives at a low angle, it enters the atmosphere more gradually, heats up more slowly, and cuts a longer swath across the sky, than if it barrels in at a steep angle.<\/p>\n
The size, composition and density of the dust particle probably also affect the length of the path, but scientists still aren\u2019t sure exactly how.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: How high up are meteors when they begin to glow? Meteors start glowing almost as soon as they hit Earth\u2019s atmosphere, but tend to vaporize at varying altitudes depending on their arrival speed.<\/p>\n
The EarthSky team has a blast bringing you daily updates on your cosmos and world. We love your photos and welcome your news tips. Earth, Space, Sun, Human, Tonight. Since 1994.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Fuzzy,](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/04\/Lyrids_April_2025-Jeremy-Evans-California.jpeg\")
![\"Bright,](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/01\/Quadrantid-Victor-Rogus-Jan-3-2025-Arizona.jpg\")