- "A meteor shower. The season of the skyfall has come again."
- ―The Dark Woman witnessing a meteor shower on a jungle world
Meteor showers[2] or meteor storms[3] were common celestial events in which space-born rocks in the form of meteors entered a planetary atmosphere.[1] The falling rocks usually burned up or exploded as they entered the atmosphere, but some might make it to the ground or collide with a ship in flight, which could cause significant destruction. Meteor showers in the upper atmosphere of a planet could be especially dangerous for passing ships, as most of the space rocks had not yet been burned away.[4] Those fragments which resisted vaporization and reached the surface were known as meteorites.[source?]
History[]
The jungle planet of Borleias was known to undergo particularly violent meteor showers. Tasari legend told of a monumental meteor shower that created the Deadbelt.[5]
A jungle world in the Kamdon system experienced seasonal meteor showers where meteors would enter the planet's atmosphere and tear through its surface, destroying untold acres of foliage, but also brought nutrients that the jungle needed to grow.[1]
While stationed on the remote Rishi moon listening post, the clone troopers detected an incoming meteor shower and raised the defensive shields. Hidden among the interstellar debris were multiple pod hunters occupied by BX-series droid commandos.[6]
During the Galactic Civil War, Roark Garnet's starship, Dorion Discus, suffered damage in a meteor storm. The ship's fusion generators were damaged, and Garnet was lucky the magnetic bottle did not fail.[7]
A common espionage tactic involved concealing starships within a mass of meteors. In 8 ABY, the crew of Mon Remonda diverted a series of asteroids to create a meteor shower over Saffalore which provided cover for Wraith Squadron's subsequent raid.[8]
Behind the scenes[]
Since the space rocks that enter the jungle world's atmosphere in Star Wars (1998) 30 hit the planet's surface,[1] it is technically a meteorite shower rather than a meteor shower:[9] A meteor is a meteoroid (lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun)[10] that enters Earth's, or another planet's, atmosphere but burns up before it reaches the ground, which is why they're also called "shooting stars." A meteorite, on the other hand, is a meteoroid that enters Earths atmosphere and hits the ground.[11]
Appearances[]
- Lost Tribe of the Sith: Purgatory (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Episode I Racer
- Star Wars (1998) 30
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rookies"
- Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO — "Escape Into Terror" (First appearance) (First identified as meteor storm)
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (First mentioned)
- A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker
- Star Wars (1977) 30 (Mentioned only)
- X-Wing: Solo Command (First appearance)
- Young Jedi Knights: Diversity Alliance (Mentioned only) (As meteor storm)
- The New Jedi Order: Star by Star
- Legacy (2006) 15 (Mentioned only) (As meteor storm)
Sources[]
- The Art of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (As meteor storm)
- Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays
- † The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
- The Unknown Regions
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Star Wars (1998) 30
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO — "Escape Into Terror"
- ↑ The Unknown Regions
- ↑ Star Wars Adventure Journal 15
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rookies"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game
- ↑ X-Wing: Solo Command
- ↑ meteorite shower on Encyclopedia Britannica: "meteorite shower, swarm of separate but related meteorites that land on Earth's surface at about the same time and place." (archived from the original on February 20, 2023)
- ↑ Meteoroid on National Geographic: "Meteoroids are lumps of rock or iron that orbit the sun, just as planets, asteroids, and comets do. (...) Most meteoroids are created from asteroid impacts. As asteroids crash and break up, their debris is classified as meteoroids." (archived from the original on May 19, 2023)
- ↑ What's the difference between a meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite? on NASA: "Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as "space rocks." When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or "shooting stars" are called meteors. When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it's called a meteorite." (archived from the original on April 23, 2023)