How rare are shooting stars?

If you wish upon a shooting star, your wish will be granted according to an old superstition. The implication is that you have been selected for a dose of good luck because you spotted a shooting star.

Is shooting stars all that elusive? What are they?

A shooting star, or a space rock that collides with Earth's atmosphere, is a common name for a shooting star.

Krupp told Live Science that shooting stars appear as a flash of light to sky-gazers. The material comes from the asteroid belt.

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There are asteroids and comets that are weird.

How common are shooting stars? What is the best way to see these space rocks, and how often do they come into contact with Earth's atmosphere?

Meteors occur all of the time, but are only seen at night. He said that most extraterrestrial rubble is small, typically the size of a grain of sand.

According to a University of Oregon report, there are 25 million meteors visible to the naked eye in a single day. Krupp noted that Earth intercepts many smaller particles that are too small to be seen by the eye.

In the dark

If you want to see shooting stars, it's important to find a dark sky location, Krupp said. Dark sky sites have very low levels of light pollution and allow uninterrupted views of the night sky.

Since 2001, the International Dark Sky Places conservation program, run by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDSA), has encouraged communities to "preserve dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education." The IDSA also dictates whether a site can officially be called a "dark sky," and has, to date, awarded 195 areas around the world dark sky status.

Certain sites have "gold-tier dark sky" status, which is the IDSA's highest possible rating. Some of the best dark sky areas include Northumberland National Park in England, the largest gold-tier dark sky park in Europe; the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, the first gold-tier dark sky preserve in the United States; and the Atacama Desert in Chile, which contains La Silla Observatory, home to some of the world's most powerful telescopes. (You can see a comprehensive list of the world's best dark sky sites at this page from the International Dark-Sky Association.)

Unfortunately, and largely due to human activity, pristinely dark skies are increasingly hard to find. According to the "World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness," around 80% of the world's population lives under "skyglow," which the U.S. Department of Energy defines as "an increase in the apparent brightness of the night sky that can serve to reduce visibility for astronomical observation." In the U.S. and Europe, it's estimated that 99% of people live under some degree of skyglow.

Astronomers are having issues with Starlink, the internet-enabling satellite network. The Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky was created by the International Astronomical Union because of the negative impact of satellite constellations.

How did the Milky Way get its name?

Krupp said that seeing a shooting star is rare for most people because we have lost the night sky to light pollution. He is confident that a person who watches the sky on a clear night from a locationuntarnished by artificial light will be able to see 5 to 10 meteors per hour.

"All you have to do is go outside, find a nice dark spot, lie flat on your back and look up," said Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. You do not want a telescope. You only use your eyes.

People are more likely to see shooting stars during certain times of the year. When Earth passes through a ring of debris shed by a comet, stargazers have a better chance of seeing shooting stars. Thanks to the reliability of Earth's position around the sun, these events can be predicted to the day. The Perseid meteor shower, which peaks in August, can produce as many as 100 visible meteors per hour.

It would appear that shooting stars are more common than people think, you just have to look up at the right time and be in the right place.

It was originally published on Live Science.