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CROSSING A COMET'S ORBIT: METEOR SHOWERS
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When Earth is passing
through the orbit of some comets, there will be some debris of
rock in which bombards the Earth and burn up in atmosphere. They
are called meteor shower. They fall in atmosphere in a short time
and nearly by parallel trajectories.
The time of this
phenomena can be predicted in each year. Meteor showers will be
named after finding their origin of radiant. The last meteor
shower will be Leonid shower of November 1999 and it is expected
to produce up to thousands of meteorite each hour.
|
Meteor Shower |
Approximate Dates |
Date of Maximum |
Approximate Hourly Rate of Meteors |
Velocity
km/sec |
Parent Comet |
|
Quadrantids (visible
by Boötes) |
Dec. 8-Jan. 7 |
Jan. 3 |
40-60 |
42 |
unknown |
|
Lyrids |
Apr. 16-25 |
Apr. 22 |
10-15 |
48 |
Thatcher 18611 |
|
Eta Aquarids |
April 21-May 12 |
May 5-6 |
20-50 |
66 |
Halley (periodic) |
|
Delta Aquarids |
July 14-Aug.18 |
July 28-29 |
20 |
41 |
unknown |
|
Perseids |
July 23-Aug. 22 |
Aug. 12 |
50-75 |
60 |
Swift-Tuttle
(periodic) |
|
Orionids |
Oct. 15-29 |
Oct. 21-22 |
20-25 |
66 |
Halley (periodic) |
|
Southern Taurids |
Sept 17-Nov. 27 |
Oct. 30- Nov. 7 |
10-15 |
x |
Encke (periodic) |
|
Leonids |
Nov. 14-20 |
Nov. 17-18 |
15-80+++ |
71 |
Tempel-Tuttle
(periodic) |
|
Geminids |
Dec. 6-19 |
Dec. 13-14 |
50-85 |
35 |
Asteroid #3200
Phaeton |
|
Ursids |
Dec. 17-25 |
Dec. 22 |
15 |
34 |
Tuttle |
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