June 30, 2015 – NATIONAL METEOR WATCHING DAY – SOCIAL MEDIA DAY

 

                                  NATIONAL METEOR WATCH DAY

National Meteor Watch Day is observed every year on June 30th.  On this day, which is also known as National Meteor Day,  people across the country search the skies hoping to find meteors or “shooting stars” streaking across their view.

Daily there are millions of meteors that occur in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“A meteor or “shooting star” is the visible streak of light from a meteoroid or micro-meteoroid, heated and glowing from entering the Earth’s atmosphere, as it sheds glowing material in its wake.” (Wikipedia)

The majority of the meteoroids that cause meteors are only the size of a pebble.

Meteors sometimes occur in showers.

Meteors are usually observed at night and are visible when they are about 34 to 70 miles above the Earth and they usually disintegrated at about 31 to 51 miles above.  Their glow time is normally about a second.

A very small percent of meteoroids hit the Earth’s atmosphere and then skip back into space. 

The chemical composition and the speed of the meteoroid will cause different hues to the light.  Possible colors and elements producing them include:

• Orange/yellow (sodium)
• Yellow (iron)
• Blue/green (copper)
• Purple (potassium)
• Red (silicate)

A list of meteor shower dates as well a a guide to successful watching can be found on the EarthSky website.

NATIONAL METEOR WATCHING DAY HISTORY

Within our research, we were unable to find the creator and origin of National Meteor Watching Day, an “unofficial” National holiday.

Social Media Day – June 30

SOCIAL MEDIA DAY

Social Media Day is observed annually on June 30th.  In it’s short life, social media has redefined how people interact, communicate and share with family, friends and the world.
With the launch of Friendster in 2002 and MySpace in 2003, social media had become mainstream.  2004 brought the founding of the king of social media, Facebook.  Twitter brought social media to the traveling public with encouraging people to post under 140 characters with their smart phones.
Social media has made it possible to stay connected and informed about what is going in with those you care about.   Re-connecting with classmates, past work associates and more is also an important part of social media.
CELEBRATE
Post something on your favorite social media platform.  Find a social media meetup in your area.  Use #SMDay when posting and to remind others of this day.