![]() ![]() The name of this shower comes from the constellation Draco the Dragon. The Draconid meteor shower, occurs every October, peaking around October 7-8. Its radiant point lies in the constellation Perseus and it is associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseid meteor shower occurs in mid-August, reaching peak activity around August 11-13. The radiant for this shower lies in the constellation Aquarius. Meteoroids in the Eta Aquarids are remnants from Halley’s Comet. It is best seen from the Southern Hemisphere, though observers in the Northern Hemisphere can also enjoy a sparser display. The next major meteor shower of the year, the Eta Aquarids, occurs between late April and mid-May, peaking around May 5-6. This meteor shower occurs between April 16 to April 26th of every year and can be seen from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The radiant point of the Lyrids lies in the constellation Lyra. The radiant point for the Quadrantids lies in the constellation Boötes, close to the Big Dipper. It peaks around January 3 and January 4 and is best seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Quadrantids is the first meteor shower of every year, usually occurring between the last week of December, and January 12. Some of the more famous meteor showers have been observed by humans for hundreds and thousands of years. While meteors can occur at any time of the year, some meteor showers occur at the same time every year. By convention, meteor showers, especially the regular ones are named after the constellation that the radiant lies in. Since meteoroids that create a meteor shower all move on a parallel path, and at the same velocity, they seem to originate from a single point in the sky to observers on Earth. Sometimes, meteors occur in clusters known as a meteor shower. If a meteoroid does not fully disintegrate while passing through Earth’s atmosphere and hits Earth, it is known as a Meteorite. Meteors generally glow for a very short period of time. The streak of light is the trail of the burning hot air, or sometimes glowing material, which the meteoroid leaves in its wake. ![]() High temperatures caused by friction between the meteoroid and gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere heats the meteoroid to the point where it starts glowing. Whenever a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it generates a flash of light called a meteor, or shooting star. Meteor, Meteoroid or Meteorite?Ī meteoroid can be dust particles or fragments from a comet or an asteroid. These small space particles are meteoroids and they are literally celestial debris. They may be called shooting stars, but they don't really have anything to do with stars. Many times a year, hundreds of celestial fireballs light up the night skies. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays). ![]()
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