This wonderful composition shows an Orionid meteor passing through the large Orion Nebula (M42) as well as the adjacent Running Man Nebula (M43) during deep sky astrophotography. While narrow-field views can sometimes reveal a spectacular individual meteor, wide-field views, such as those obtained with the naked eye, create more spectacular meteor shower viewing experiences.. (Credit: JustAstrophotography — Justin Bradt/Astrobin)
The Orionid meteor shower will peak here on October 20-21, 2025, coinciding with the new Moon. See the brightest shooting stars of the year!
Every year the same meteor showers repeat.
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This comet, photographed in 2015 and known as C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy, brightened enough to reach magnitude +4: visible to the naked human eye even in conditions of significant light pollution. When Halley’s Comet returns, it will only be 5 to 6 times brighter than this, but when Comet Swift-Tuttle returns, it will be about 20 times brighter. Swift-Tuttle is much more massive and dangerous than other known periodic comets. Although comets have been recorded for thousands of years, their periodic nature was not discovered until the 18th century by Edmond Halley. (Credit: John Vermette / MIT News)
As the Earth orbits the Sun, it periodically crosses the orbits of comets and asteroids.
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Each year, Earth passes through the debris stream of several comets, including Comet Swift-Tuttle, which creates the visual phenomenon known as the Perseid meteor shower, and Comet Halley, which creates two meteor showers: the Eta Aquarids and the Orionids. Although Comet Swift-Tuttle remains the most dangerous object known to humanity, it is Comet Tempel-Tuttle that has the honor of being the first comet linked to meteor showers (by John Couch Adams in the 1860s), being the parent body of the Leonids.. (Credit: Ian Webster; Data: NASA / CAMS / Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute))
When the crossing occurs, its debris impacts the Earth’s atmosphere.
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As they orbit the Sun, comets and asteroids typically break up over time, and debris between the pieces along the orbit path stretches to create debris streams. These streams cause meteor showers when the Earth passes through that debris stream: younger showers have more concentrated debris streams around the core of the main body and older showers have a more uniform debris stream. This image taken by Spitzer along the path of a comet shows small fragments outgassing, but also shows the main stream of debris that gives rise to the meteor showers that occur in our Solar System.. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/W. Scope (SSC/Caltech))
The longer the period of a comet or asteroid, the faster its meteors move as they hit Earth.
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This map shows the debris stream from Comet Encke, a short-period comet orbiting the Sun and parent of the Taurid meteor shower. For many young comets or asteroids, there is a higher debris density associated with the location of the main (parent) body of the debris stream, while older streams are more uniform. The Taurids and Geminids are marked by short-period progenitor bodies, with slower meteors, while the Leonids, Perseids, and Orionids have longer-period progenitor bodies and therefore faster meteors. (Credit: MS Kelley et al., ApJ, 2006)
