How long does meteor shower last

Generally visible from July 17 to August 24, meteor speed 37 miles [60 km] per second , brightness, and a high proportion of trains 45 percent distinguish the Perseids from other showers active at this time.

Models of the Perseids predict a gradual decline in activity from a peak in Draconid activity occurs between October 6 and 10, with a peak on October 8 if it occurs at all. In and , the shower produced brief but intense meteor storms more than 5, per hour ; in , it reached a rate of about meteors an hour over eastern Europe. The occurrence of the shower is intimately tied to the proximity of its parent comet. According to Donald Yeomans, a comet expert at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the most intense showers occur when Earth grazes the comet's orbit within a few months of its passage.

Most researchers agree that a full-fledged meteor storm — defined as 1, meteors an hour or more — will occur in Draconids are slow-moving meteors, encountering Earth at less than 12 miles 20 km per second, and they typically are faint.

This is the sister stream of the Eta Aquarids, also arising from the debris of Halley's Comet. Discovered in , the Orionids were not linked to Halley until Orionid meteors can be found between October 2 and November 7, with a peak of about 25 per hour around October Orionid meteors are among the fastest 42 miles [67 km] per second ; they generally are faint, and about 20 percent leave trains that persist one or two seconds.

Southern Taurids. Visible between October 1 and November 25, this is the strongest of several streams originating from Comet Encke. A broad maximum occurs between November 3 and 5, but this shower usually brings an hourly rate of less than 15 meteors. The shower was first recognized in and was associated with Comet Encke in Its meteors generally are faint and quite slow 19 miles [30 km] a second because they approach Earth from behind and must catch up.

Leonid meteors generally arrive between November 14 and 21, with a peak hourly rate on November 17 of between 10 and 15 meteors per hour; about half of these meteors leave trains that can persist for several minutes. Because Earth runs into the orbiting particles almost directly head-on, Leonid meteors travel faster than those of any other shower — 45 miles 71 km per second.

The shower's most notable feature is its habit of producing periodic, dramatic meteor storms as Earth intercepts streams of dense material ejected at previous returns of Comet Tempel-Tuttle.

Our planet passed through such streams annually from to Computer models show that Jupiter's tug on the dense Leonid streams causes them to miss Earth until at least Because the stream responsible for the predicted outbursts was ejected in , only its smallest particles have been able to drift into a path that Earth will intersect.

This means any outburst, if one occurs at all, will be rich in faint meteors. The Geminids are active between December 7 and 17 and peak near December 13, with typical hourly meteor rates around 80 but occasionally more than Because the Geminids intersect Earth's orbit near the side directly opposite the Sun, this shower is one of the few that are good before midnight.

The parent body of the Geminids is a curious object designated Phaethon. What makes Phaethon interesting is that it appears to be an asteroid instead of a comet. Planetary scientists suggest that many of the asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's may be, in fact, worn-out comets. How to observe meteor showers. The basics of how meteor showers work. Earth may have recently destroyed one of its own minimoons.

Are eight planets enough? Mercury and Venus return. Cosmos: Origin and Fate of the Universe. Astronomy's Moon Globe. Galaxies by David Eicher. The debris that produces Perseid meteors, for example, travels at around , miles per hour. Meteor showers are celestial events during which numerous meteors are seen to originate from a single point in the night sky, known as the radiant.

The debris that produces the Perseids originates from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which is in a year-long orbit around the sun.

The comet shed the debris long ago and it is now distributed all along its orbital path. Then quickly realized it was past midnight in the middle of January. No way it was fireworks, but surely the most brilliant meteor I would ever hope to see.

Or is that referring to the hemisphere that they could best be viewed in? When a radiant point is above the horizon, more meteors may be visible the higher the radiant is in the sky, the more the meteors that can be seen. However, one should not look at the radiant, but instead select a part of the sky away from it to see the longest meteor paths. Some prefer to look straight up, to keep an eye on the most sky, or look where the sky is darkest.

Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky—just focus on one spot, and you are likely to see one or more at some time during your skywatching. Hope this helps! I live in central MA. As I watched stared out my window over the woods to beyond tonight, thinking of my kitty who escaped into the night a week ago tonight, the biggest and brightest shooting star flew right over the treetops.

It was amazing and brought tears to my eyes. Perhaps every time a shooting star flies across the skies, one of our pets goes to heaven. One can imagine. I live in Mooroolbark Victoria , I saw what my mother would call a 'falling star' last night, aout 10 or 11pm. Very bright, and aeemed very close. It was breathtakingly beautiful! July 3rd south twin falls, Idaho multi colored in north sky about pm. And I saw that row of lights, I wish I knew what those were! Makes a guy stop and say hmmmmmm.

Gruber, March 8 by Lucy the UK, etc. A series of what looked like satellites heading about southeast. Each would appear, then disappear, and then briefly re-appear. They were on the same line. There were maybe 15 total, and then they stopped. The Eta Aquariids are a strong shower when viewed from the southern tropics. From the equator northward, they usually only produce medium rates of per hour just before dawn.

Activity is good for a week centered the night of maximum activity. These are swift meteors that produce a high percentage of persistent trains, but few fireballs. Next Peak - The eta Aquariids will next peak on the May , night. The Delta Aquariids are another strong shower best seen from the southern tropics. North of the equator the radiant is located lower in the southern sky and therefore rates are less than seen from further south. These meteors produce good rates for a week centered on the night of maximum.

These are usually faint meteors that lack both persistent trains and fireballs. Shower details - Radiant : The Alpha Capricornids are active from July 7 through August 15 with a "plateau-like" maximum centered on July 31st. This shower is not very strong and rarely produces in excess of five shower members per hour. What is notable about this shower is the number of bright fireballs produced during its activity period. This shower is seen equally well on either side of the equator.

Next Peak - The alpha Capricornids will next peak on the Jul , night. The Perseids are the most popular meteor shower as they peak on warm August nights as seen from the northern hemisphere. The Perseids are active from July 14 to September 1. They reach a strong maximum on August 12 or 13, depending on the year.

Normal rates seen from rural locations range from shower members per hour at maximum. They are called Perseids since the radiant the area of the sky where the meteors seem to originate is located near the prominent constellation of Perseus the hero when at maximum activity. Next Peak - The Perseids will next peak on the Aug , night. American Meteor Society. Javascript Required Javascript is required: please enable javascript on your browser.