Category

Meteor showers

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celestial event caused by streams of meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle that are usually visible from mid-July to late-August. The meteors are called the Perseids because they appear from the general direction of the constellation Perseus and in more modern times have a radiant bordering on Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis.

The Leonids ( ) are a prolific annual meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel–Tuttle, and are also known for their spectacular meteor storms that occur about every 33 years. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to radiate from that point in the sky. The name is derived from Greek and Latin with the prefix Leo- referring to the constellation and the suffix -ids signifying that the meteor shower is the offspring of, descendant of, the constellation Leo.

The Geminids are a prolific meteor shower, the parent body of which is 3200 Phaethon (which is thought to be an Apollo asteroid with a "rock comet" orbit). Because of this, it would make this shower, along with the Quadrantids, the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet. The meteors from this shower are slow; they can be seen in December and usually peak around December 4–16, with the date of highest intensity being the morning of December 14. Current showers produce up to 120–160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions, peaking at around 2:00 or 3:00. Geminids were firs

the point from which meteors appear to originate

The Quadrantids (QUA) are a meteor shower that peaks in early January and whose radiant lies in the constellation Boötes. The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of this shower can be as high as that of two other reliably rich meteor showers, the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December, yet Quadrantid meteors are not seen as often as those of the two other showers because the time frame of the peak is exceedingly narrow, sometimes lasting only hours. Moreover, the meteors are quite faint, with mean apparent magnitudes between 3.0 and 6.0.

The Orionids meteor shower, often shortened to the Orionids, is one of two meteor showers associated with Halley's Comet (the other one being the Eta Aquariids). The Orionids are named because the point they appear to come from (the radiant) lies in the constellation of Orion. The shower occurs annually, lasting approximately one week in late October. In some years, meteors may occur at rates of 50–70 per hour.

thumb|Radiant point of the April Lyrid meteor shower, active each year around April 22

The October Draconids, in the past also unofficially known as the Giacobinids, are a Northern Hemisphere meteor shower whose parent body is the periodic comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. They are named after the constellation Draco, where they seemingly come from. Almost all meteors which fall towards Earth ablate long before reaching its surface. The Draconids are best viewed after sunset in an area with a clear dark sky.

The Ursid (URS) meteor activity begins annually around December 17 and runs for over a week, until the 25th or 26th. This meteor shower is named for its radiant point, which is located near the star Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) in the constellation Ursa Minor.

list of meteor showers

The Andromedids meteor shower is associated with Biela's Comet, the showers occurring as Earth passes through old streams left by the comet's tail. The comet was observed to have broken up by 1846; further drift of the pieces by 1852 suggested the moment of breakup was in either 1842 or early 1843, when the comet was near Jupiter. The breakup led to particularly spectacular showers in subsequent cycles (particularly in 1872 and 1885).

The Taurids are an annual meteor shower, associated with the comet Encke. The Taurids are actually two separate showers, with a Southern and a Northern component. The Southern Taurids originated from Comet Encke, while the Northern Taurids originated from the asteroid 2004 TG10, possibly a large fragment of Encke due to its similar orbital parameters. They are named after their radiant point in the constellation Taurus, where they are seen to come from in the sky. Because of their occurrence in late October and early November, they are also called Halloween fireballs. Since 2P/Encke is such a

Southern Delta Aquariids

The Arietids are a strong meteor shower that lasts from May 22 to July 2 each year, and peaks on June 7. The Arietids, along with the Zeta Perseids, are the most intense daylight meteor showers of the year. The source of the shower is unknown, but scientists suspect that they come from the asteroid 1566 Icarus, although the orbit also corresponds similarly to 96P/Machholz.

Alpha Monocerotids

Coma Berenicids

Alpha Capricornids

meteor shower in July and August

The Virginids are a meteor shower. There are many major and minor meteor shower streams that occur during the Virginid Complex, including the Alpha Virginids, Gamma Virginids, Eta Virginids, Theta Virginids, Iota Virginids, Lambda Virginids, Mu Virginids, Pi Virginids, and Psi Virginids, and March Virginids, emanating mostly from the constellation Virgo between February and May. Collectively, the shower normally lasts from late January to mid-April and into early May, peaking in March and April, with one to two meteors per hour on average. The main radiant shifts southeastwards from central Le

The meteor shower of the July Pegasids occurs between July 4 and Aug 8. It is a weak meteor shower that has its maximum around July 11 having a ZHR of only 3 meteors per hour. The meteors have, however, an atmosphere entry speed of about 64 km/s.

Alpha Centaurids

The Phoenicids are a minor meteor shower, first noticed by observers in New Zealand, Australia, the Indian Ocean, and South Africa during an outburst of approximately 100 meteors an hour that occurred during December 1956. Like other meteor showers, the Phoenicids get their name from the location of their radiant, which is in the constellation Phoenix. They are active from 29 November to 9 December, with a peak occurring around 5/6 December each year, and are best seen from the Southern Hemisphere.

Population index

Annual meteor shower associated with Comet Encke, not to be confused with the Taurids

Aurigids is a meteor shower occurring primarily within September.

Leonis Minorids

meteor shower lasting from January 14 to 27 each year

The Monocerotids refers to two separate meteor showers originating from the constellation of Monoceros. The Alpha Monocerotids, the more prominent of the two showers, takes place in November, while the second, lesser-known December Monocerotids shower takes place in December and appears to have an orbit similar to that of comet C/1917 F1 (Mellish).

Omicron Centaurids

Theta Centaurids