About Meteor Showers

Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through debris trails left by comets, causing particles to burn up in the atmosphere. Although the meteors travel on parallel paths, perspective makes them appear to radiate from a single point, known as the radiant. Showers are named after the constellation where this radiant is located. While most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, dense debris fields can trigger "meteor storms" with over 1,000 meteors per hour. This phenomenon also occurs on other planets like Mars. For the best viewing, observers should wait until after midnight when the moon is less than half-illuminated.