Meteor shower

This article is about the falling of meteors. For the TV program, see Meteor Shower (TV series). For the play by Steve Martin, see Meteor Shower (play). For the Owl City song, see Ocean Eyes (album).
Eta Aquariids meteor shower, with zodiacal light and planets marked and labeled

A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the Earth's surface. Very intense or unusual meteor showers are known as meteor outbursts and meteor storms, which produce at least 1,000 meteors an hour, most notably from the Leonids.[1] The Meteor Data Centre lists over 900 suspected meteor showers of which about 100 are well established.[2] Several organizations point to viewing opportunities on the Internet.[3] NASA maintains a daily map of active meteor showers.[4]

  1. ^ Jenniskens, P. (2006). Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85349-1.
  2. ^ Meteor Data Center list of Meteor Showers
  3. ^ St. Fleur, Nicholas, "The Quadrantids and Other Meteor Showers That Will Light Up Night Skies in 2018", The New York Times, January 2, 2018
  4. ^ NASA Meteor Shower Portal