shooting star strikes

[Ryovzx09]

Hi,

I was reading an article about earth's geologic ages:
"In a similar way, scientists used traces of the element iridium left by shooting star strikes to help define the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods — the time of the great dinosaur extinctions."

I guess 'strikes' here is a plural noun but don't know what it means, possibly related to the shooting star.
Thanks.

 

[Myridon]

"Shooting star strikes" = "places where shooting stars (meteorites) have struck the Earth".

 

[kentix]

I don't know anyone who uses shooting stars in a technical way like that. It sounds strange. We would generally always say meteors or meteorites in that context.

Shooting stars would be good for poetry and things like that. Or very casual conversation.

 

[Ryovzx09]

I don't know anyone who uses shooting stars in a technical way like that. It sounds strange. We would generally always say meteors or meteorites in that context.
Shooting stars would be good for poetry and things like that. Or very casual conversation.

I suppose, not quite sure though, in some graded texts for intermediate-level learners, 'shooting star' as a casual way of saying 'meteorite' might be easier for them to understand, because some people, probably, may haven't come across the technical term for 'shooting star' before.

 

[kentix]

The same thing happens here. You teach children about shooting stars and then you spend the next 10 years trying to explain to them that they're not really stars and they don't really shoot. And then you wonder if you should've just taught them the right word in the very beginning.

 

[sdgraham]

I suppose, not quite sure though, in some graded texts for intermediate-level learners, 'shooting star' as a casual way of saying 'meteorite' might be easier for them to understand, because some people, probably, may haven't come across the technical term for 'shooting star' before.

I cannot imagine any modern American text using “shooting star,” especially since it’s never used in news reports.
This is the first time I’ve encountered it in decades.