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{{short description|Celestial event caused by streams of meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere}}
{{about|the falling of meteors|the TV program|Meteor Shower (TV series)|the play by Steve Martin|Meteor Shower (play)|the Owl City song|Ocean Eyes (album)}}
[[File:Meteor shower in the Chilean Desert (annotated) (potw2227b).jpg|thumb|[[Eta Aquariids]] meteor shower, with [[zodiacal light]] and planets marked and labeled]]

A '''meteor shower''' is a celestial event in which a number of [[meteor]]s are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the [[night sky]]. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called [[meteoroid]]s entering [[Earth's atmosphere]] at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the Earth's surface. Very intense or unusual meteor showers are known as '''meteor outbursts''' and '''meteor storms''', which produce at least 1,000 meteors an hour, most notably from the [[Leonids]].<ref name="MeteorShowers">{{Cite book |last=Jenniskens |first=P. |title=Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85349-1}}</ref> The Meteor Data Centre lists over 900 suspected meteor showers of which about 100 are well established.<ref>[http://www.ta3.sk/IAUC22DB/MDC2007/Roje/roje_lista.php Meteor Data Center list of Meteor Showers]</ref> Several organizations point to viewing opportunities on the Internet.<ref>St. Fleur, Nicholas, [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/science/meteor-showers-2018.html?smid=spacecal "The Quadrantids and Other Meteor Showers That Will Light Up Night Skies in 2018]", ''The New York Times'', January 2, 2018</ref> NASA maintains a daily map of active meteor showers.<ref>[http://cams.seti.org/FDL/ NASA Meteor Shower Portal]</ref>

Historically, meteor showers were regarded as an atmospheric phenomenon. In 1794, [[Ernst Chladni]] proposed that meteors originated in [[outer space]]. The [[Great Meteor Storm of 1833]] led [[Denison Olmsted]] to show it arrived as a cloud of space dust, with the streaks forming a [[Radiant (meteor shower)|radiant]] point in the direction of the [[constellation of Leo]]. In 1866, [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]] proposed that meteors came from [[comet]]s when he showed that the [[Leonid meteor shower]] shared the same [[orbit]] as the [[55P/Tempel–Tuttle|Comet Tempel]]. Astronomers learned to compute the orbits of these clouds of cometary dust, including how they are [[Perturbation (astronomy)|perturbed]] by planetary [[gravity]]. [[Fred Whipple]] in 1951 proposed that comets are "dirty snowballs" that shed meteoritic debris as their [[Volatile (astrogeology)|volatiles]] are [[Ablation|ablated]] by solar energy in the inner [[Solar System]].

==Historical developments==
Historical records suggest that Spartan observations of meteor showers occurred as early as 1200 BCE. There are detailed records from ancient archives showing they were observed from China, Japan, and Korea.<ref name=Williams_Murad_2002>{{cite book | chapter=Introduction | first1=Iwan P. | last1=Williams | first2=Edmond | last2=Murad | title=Meteors in the Earth's Atmosphere: Meteoroids and Cosmic Dust and Their Interactions with the Earth's Upper Atmosphere | editor1-first=Edmond | editor1-last=Murad | editor2-first=Iwan P. | editor2-last=Williams | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-521-80431-8 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqd4e34uE-MC&pg=PA4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Analysis of historical meteor and meteor shower records: Korea, China, and Japan | display-authors=1 | last1=Yang | first1=Hong-Jin | last2=Park | first2=Changbom | last3=Park | first3=Myeong-Gu | journal=Icarus | volume=175 | issue=1 | pages=215–225 | date=May 2005 | doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2004.10.007 | arxiv=astro-ph/0501216 | bibcode=2005Icar..175..215Y }}</ref> There are multiple chronicles where Medieval Arabs recorded meteor showers, as they regarded them as good omens.<ref>{{cite journal | title=A Catalogue of Meteor Showers in Mediaeval Arab Chronicles | last1=Rada | first1=W. S. | last2=Stephenson | first2=F. R. | journal=Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=33 | issue=1 | page=5 | date=March 1992 | bibcode=1992QJRAS..33....5R }}</ref> A meteor shower in August 1583 was recorded in the [[Timbuktu manuscripts]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Holbrook |first1=Jarita C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DJpDW6IAukC&pg=PA182 |title=African Cultural Astronomy |last2=Medupe, R. Thebe |last3=Johnson Urama |date=2008 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-6638-2 |author3-link=Johnson Urama }}</ref><ref name="Stars of the Sahara">{{cite journal | last=Abraham | first=Curtis | title=Stars of the Sahara | journal=New Scientist | issue=2617 | date=15 August 2007 | volume=195 | pages=39–41 | doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(07)62093-4 | url=http://www.islandmix.com/backchat/f6/libraries-timbuktu-166732/ | access-date=2011-07-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713063221/http://www.islandmix.com/backchat/f6/libraries-timbuktu-166732/ | archive-date=2011-07-13 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last=Hammer | first=Joshua | title=The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts | publisher=Simon & Schuster | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4767-7743-6 | location=New York | pages=26–27 }}</ref> The [[Lyrids]] meteor shower is the oldest such event to be continuously recorded, with records in China dating back to 687 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Lyrids meteor shower: A historical perspective | display-authors=1 | first1=M. J. Martínez | last1=Usó | first2=F. J. Marco | last2=Castillo | first3=J. A. López | last3=Ortí | journal=Planetary and Space Science | volume=238 | date=November 15, 2023 | article-number=105803 | id=105803 | doi=10.1016/j.pss.2023.105803 | bibcode=2023P&SS..23805803M | hdl=10234/205174 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:PSM V01 D405 August meteor shower orbit.jpg|thumb|Diagram from 1872]]
In 1789, [[Antoine Lavoisier]] published the first modern chemistry textbook titled, ''[[Traité Élémentaire de Chimie]]''. In it, he speculated that dust rising into the upper atmosphere could be consolidated into lumps of matter by lightning, forming fiery meteors as they plummeted to the ground. At the start of the 19th century, this became one of the most favored hypothesis for the formation on meteors. However, in 1794, German scientist [[Ernst Chladni]] proposed that meteorites originated in outer space, and as evidence he published a book linking fireballs to iron meteorites. This proposal was initially met with disbelief from some scientists, initially including [[Alexander von Humboldt]], as it contradicted [[Isaac Newton]]'s statement that space must be empty for planets to continue along their orbits.<ref>{{cite book | chapter=Meteorites in history: an overview from the Renaisscence to the 20th Century | first=U. B. | last=Marvin | title=The History of Meteoritics and Key Meteorite Collections: Fireballs, Falls and Finds | volume=256 | series=Special publication | editor1-first=G. J. H. | editor1-last=McCall | editor2-first=A. J. | editor2-last=Bowden | editor3-first=R. J. | editor3-last=Howarth | publisher=Geological Society of London | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-86239-194-9 | pages=32–34 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SvtVoa1W-cC&pg=PA32 }}</ref><ref name=Williams_Murad_2002/>

In the modern era, the first great meteor storm was the [[Leonids]] of November 1833. One estimate is a peak rate of over one hundred thousand meteors an hour,<ref>{{cite web | first=Joe | last=Rao | date=November 12, 2010 | website=Space.com | title=The 1833 Leonid Meteor Shower: A Frightening Flurry | url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/leonids_1833_011114.html | access-date=2025-08-16 }}</ref> but another, done as the storm abated, estimated more than two hundred thousand meteors during the 9 hours of the storm,<ref name="MAC">{{cite web | url=http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/history.html | title=Brief history of the Leonid shower | work=Leonic MAC | publisher=NASA | access-date=2025-08-15 }}</ref> over the entire region of [[North America]] east of the [[Rocky Mountains]]. American [[Denison Olmsted]] (1791–1859) explained the event most accurately. After spending the last weeks of 1833 collecting information, he presented his findings in January 1834 to the ''[[American Journal of Science and Arts]]'', published in January–April 1834,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olmsted |first=Denison |date=1833 |title=Observations on the Meteors of November 13th, 1833 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30964366 |journal=The American Journal of Science and Arts |volume=25 |pages=363–411 |access-date=21 May 2013}}</ref> and January 1836.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olmsted |first=Denison |date=1836 |title=Facts respecting the Meteoric Phenomena of November 13th, 1834. |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31127293 |journal=[[The American Journal of Science and Arts]] |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=168–170}}</ref> He noted the shower was of short duration and was not seen in [[Europe]], and that the meteors radiated from a point in the [[constellation of Leo]]. He speculated the meteors had originated from a cloud of particles in space.<ref name="Kronk">{{cite web | title=Observing the Leonids | website=Meteor Showers Online | date=March 4, 2013 | url=http://meteorshowersonline.com/leonids.html | access-date=2013-03-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304005613/http://meteorshowersonline.com/leonids.html | archive-date=2013-03-04 }} [[Gary W. Kronk]]</ref> Work continued, yet coming to understand the annual nature of showers though the occurrences of storms perplexed researchers.<ref>[http://www.usskyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/05/fw-russell-meteor-watch-organizer.html F. W. Russell, Meteor Watch Organizer], by Richard Taibi, May 19, 2013, accessed 21 May 2013</ref>

The Italian astronomer [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]] ascertained the relation between meteors and comets in a series of letters to [[Angelo Secchi]] late in 1866. He was able to demonstrate that the [[Leonid meteor shower]] shared the same orbit as the [[55P/Tempel–Tuttle|Comet Tempel]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Planets and Perception: Telescopic Views and Interpretations, 1609-1909 | first=William | last=Sheehan | publisher=University of Arizona Press | year=2022 | isbn=978-0-8165-4680-0 | page=70 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2dsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 }}</ref><ref name=Williams_Murad_2002/> [[Biela's Comet]], discovered in 1772 and identified as periodic in 1826, was observed to have two components in 1846. During the 1852 return, both components were fainter and had a greater separation. In 1868, [[Edmund Weiss]] determined that the Earth would intersect the orbit of this comet in 1872, and a strong meteor shower was observed at that time. This meteor stream, now referred to as the [[Andromedids]], further established the connection between comets and meteor showers.<ref>{{cite conference | title=The Dynamics of Meteoroid Streams (lecture) | last=Williams | first=I. P. | conference=Chaos, Resonance, and Collective Dynamical Phenomena in the Solar System: Proceedings of the 152nd Symposium of the International Astronomical Union held in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, 15-19 July, 1991 | editor-first=Sylvio | editor-last=Ferraz-Mello | series=International Astronomical Union. Symposium | volume=152 | publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers | location=Dordrecht | year=1992 | page=299 | bibcode=1992IAUS..152..299W }}</ref>

In the 1890s, Irish astronomer [[George Johnstone Stoney]] (1826–1911) and British astronomer [[Arthur Matthew Weld Downing]] (1850–1917) were the first to attempt to calculate the position of the dust at Earth's orbit, taking into account the [[gravitational perturbation]]s of Jupiter. They studied the dust ejected in 1866 by comet [[55P/Tempel-Tuttle]] before the anticipated Leonid shower return of 1898 and 1899. Meteor storms were expected, but the final calculations showed that most of the dust would be far inside Earth's orbit. The same results were independently arrived at by [[Adolf Berberich]] of the [[Königliches Astronomisches Rechen Institut]] (Royal Astronomical Computation Institute) in Berlin, Germany.<ref>{{cite book | title=Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets | first=Peter | last=Jenniskens | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-316-34782-9 | page=157 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14zKCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA157 }}</ref> Although the absence of meteor storms that season confirmed the calculations, the advance of much better computing tools was needed to arrive at reliable predictions.

In 1981, Donald K. Yeomans of the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] reviewed the history of meteor showers for the Leonids and the history of the dynamic orbit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yeomans |first=Donald K. |date=September 1981 |title=Comet Tempel-Tuttle and the Leonid meteors |journal=[[Icarus (journal)|Icarus]] |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=492–499 |bibcode=1981Icar...47..492Y |doi=10.1016/0019-1035(81)90198-6}}</ref> A graph<ref>{{cite web | title=Plot of meteoroids and Comet Tempel-Tuttle | date=January 7, 2004 | url=http://www.iltrails.org/leokin4.gif | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123062359/http://www.iltrails.org/leokin4.gif | archive-date=2006-11-23 }}</ref> from it was adapted and re-published in ''[[Sky and Telescope]]''.<ref>{{cite web | first=Donald K. | last=Yeomans | title=Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle and the Leonid Meteors | date=June 30, 2007 | url=http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/19339/1/98-0663.pdf | access-date=2007-06-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630230010/http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/19339/1/98-0663.pdf | archive-date=2007-06-30 }}(1996, see p.&nbsp;6)</ref> It showed relative positions of the Earth and Tempel-Tuttle and marks where Earth encountered dense dust. This showed that the meteoroids are mostly behind and outside the path of the comet, but paths of the Earth through the cloud of particles resulting in powerful storms were very near paths of nearly no activity.

In 1985, E. D. Kondrat'eva and E. A. Reznikov of Kazan State University first correctly identified the years when dust was released which was responsible for several past Leonid meteor storms. In 1995, [[Peter Jenniskens]] predicted the 1995 [[Alpha Monocerotids]] outburst from dust trails.<ref>Article published in 1997, notes prediction in 1995 - {{Cite journal | display-authors=1 |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Betlem |first2=H. |last3=De Lignie |first3=M. |last4=Langbroek |first4=M. |date=1997 |title=The Detection of a Dust Trail in the Orbit of an Earth-threatening Long-Period Comet |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=479 |issue=1 |pages=441 |bibcode=1997ApJ...479..441J |doi=10.1086/303853 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In anticipation of the 1999 Leonid storm, [[Robert H. McNaught]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Re: (meteorobs) Leonid Storm? | first=Rob | last=McNaught | date=March 7, 2007 | url=http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg14753.html | access-date=2007-03-07 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307111316/http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg14753.html | archive-date=2007-03-07 }}</ref> [[David J. Asher|David Asher]],<ref>{{cite web | title=Blast from the Past | work=Armagh Observatory press release | date=April 21, 1999 | url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/leopress.html | access-date=2006-12-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206230027/http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/leopress.html | archive-date=2006-12-06 }}</ref> and Finland's Esko Lyytinen were the first to apply this method in the West.<ref>{{cite web | title=Fine Leonid Meteor Displays Predicted Through To 2002 | work=Royal Astronomical Society Press Notice | at=Ref. PN 99/27 | first=Jacqueline | last=Mitton | author-link=Jacqueline Mitton | date=August 30, 1999 | url=http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news063.html | access-date=2003-03-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000115212439/http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news063.html | archive-date=2000-01-15 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Voyage through a comet's trail, The 1998 Leonids sparkled over Canada | first=Chris | last=Riley | date=November 17, 1999 | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/525041.stm | access-date=2025-08-15 }}</ref> In 2006 Jenniskens published predictions for future dust trail encounters covering the next 50 years.<ref name="Jenniskens P. 2006" /> Jérémie Vaubaillon continues to update predictions based on observations each year for the {{ill|Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides|fr|Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides}} (IMCCE).<ref>{{cite web | title=IMCCE Prediction page | date=October 8, 2012 | url=http://www.imcce.fr/langues/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/meteor/predictions.php | access-date=2012-10-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008085151/http://www.imcce.fr/langues/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/meteor/predictions.php | archive-date=2012-10-08 }}</ref>

==Radiant point ==
{{main|Radiant (meteor shower)}}
[[File:PSM V18 D201 Shower of perseids sept 6 and 7.jpg|thumb|right|Meteor shower on chart]]

Because meteor shower particles are all traveling in parallel paths and at the same velocity, they will appear to an observer below to radiate away from a single point in the sky. This [[radiant (meteor shower)|radiant]] point is caused by the effect of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]], similar to parallel railroad tracks converging at a single vanishing point on the horizon. Meteor showers are normally named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to originate. This "fixed point" slowly moves across the sky during the night <!-- course of the shower --> due to the Earth turning on its axis, the same reason the stars appear to slowly march across the sky.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Stationary Meteor Radiants | journal=The Observatory | date=1901 | editor1-first=T. | editor1-last=Lewis | editor2-first=H. P. | editor2-last=Hollis | page=359 | volume=24 | issue=309 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHoKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA359 }}</ref> The radiant also moves slightly from night to night against the background stars (radiant drift) due to the Earth moving in its orbit around the Sun.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Meteors | last=McIntosh | first=R. A. | journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada | volume=26 | page=193 | date=June 1932 | bibcode=1932JRASC..26..193M }}</ref> See [http://www.imo.net/calendar/2017 ''IMO'' Meteor Shower Calendar 2017] ([[International Meteor Organization]]) for maps of drifting "fixed points".

The geocentric velocity of the meteors can vary considerably between showers. For example, the velocity is around 27&nbsp;km/s for the [[Taurids]] and 71&nbsp;km/s for the Leonids. (Compare to the Earth's average orbital velocity of {{val|29.8|u=km/s}}.<ref name="earth_fact_sheet">{{cite web | title=Earth Fact Sheet | work=[[NSSDCA]] | publisher=[[NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]] | first=David R. | last=Williams | date=November 15, 2024 | url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html | access-date=2024-12-30 |archive-date=2013-05-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508021904/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html | url-status=live }}</ref>) Incoming meteors produce a measureable [[light curve]] along their trajectory, which varies in brightness by the rate of [[ablation]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=Atmospheric trajectories and light curves of shower meteors | display-authors=1 | last1=Koten | first1=P. | last2=Borovička | first2=J. | last3=Spurný | first3=P. | last4=Betlem | first4=H. | last5=Evans | first5=S. | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | volume=428 | pages=683–690 | date=December 2004 | issue=2 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20041485 | bibcode=2004A&A...428..683K }}</ref> The observed heights for meteor ionization is from {{Val|70|to|110|u=km}}, where the atmosphere is sufficiently dense to heat the projectiles.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Recognition of Meteor Showers From the Heights of Ionization Trails | display-authors=1 | last1=Lukianova | first1=Renata | last2=Kozlovsky | first2=Alexander | last3=Lester | first3=Mark | journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics | volume=123 | issue=8 | pages=7067–7076 | date=August 2018 | doi=10.1029/2018JA025706 | bibcode=2018JGRA..123.7067L }}</ref> A typical meteor in a shower has a diameter of {{Val|5|u=μm}} with a density of 2&nbsp;g&nbsp;cm<sup>−3</sup>. It starts to melt at a temperature of around {{Val|1800|u=K}}.<ref>{{cite journal | title=A chemical model of meteoric ablation | display-authors=1 | last1=Vondrak | first1=T. | last2=Plane | first2=J. M. C. | last3=Broadley | first3=S. | last4=Janches | first4=D. | journal=Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics | volume=8 | issue=23 | pages=7015–7031 | date=December 2008 | doi=10.5194/acp-8-7015-2008 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2008ACP.....8.7015V }}</ref>

As the Earth rotates, the shower rate will be low when the radiant point is near the horizon, then it will rise to at least 50% of maximum when the radiant point reaches an [[altitude]] of 30° above the horizon. Optimum viewing is when the radiant point is at an angle of 45°, or half way up the sky, as the meteors are still passing through a thicker column of air. The longer, more prominent trails will then be observed 30–60° away from the radiant point.<ref>{{cite book | title=Meteors and How to Observe Them | series=Astronomers' Observing Guides | first=Robert | last=Lunsford | publisher=Springer Science & Business Media | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-387-09461-8 | pages=145–147 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iu9XakR51EsC&pg=PA146 }}</ref> Most meteor showers improve their visibility after midnight, as the observer's position becomes more oriented toward the direction of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. For this reason, the best viewing time for a meteor shower is generally slightly before dawn — a compromise between the maximum number of meteors available for viewing and the brightening sky, which makes them harder to see.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Stargazer's Guide to the Night Sky | first=Jason | last=Lisle | publisher=New Leaf Publishing Group | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-89051-641-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_cdoHkRL1wC&pg=PA78 }}</ref>

==Naming ==
Meteor showers are named after the nearest constellation, or bright star with a Greek or Roman letter assigned that is close to the radiant position at the peak of the shower, whereby the grammatical [[declension]] of the Latin [[possessive form]] is replaced by "id" or "ids."<ref>{{cite journal | title=New nomenclature rules for meteor showers adopted | display-authors=1 | last1=Jopek | first1=Tadeusz J. | last2=Hajduková | first2=Mária | last3=Rudawska | first3=Regina | last4=Koseki | first4=Masahiro | last5=Kokhirova | first5=Gulchehra | last6=Neslušan | first6=Luboš | journal=New Astronomy Reviews | volume=96 | at=id. 101671 | date=June 2023 | article-number=101671 | doi=10.1016/j.newar.2022.101671 | arxiv=2211.01350 | bibcode=2023NewAR..9601671J }}</ref> Hence, meteors radiating from near the star [[Delta Aquarii]] (declension "-i") are called the [[Delta Aquariids]]. The [[International Astronomical Union]]'s Working Group on Meteor Shower Nomenclature and the IAU's Meteor Data Center keep track of meteor shower nomenclature and which showers are established.<ref>{{cite conference | title=The Working Group on Meteor Showers Nomenclature: A History, Current Status and a Call for Contributions | last1=Jopek | first1=T. J. | last2=Jenniskens | first2=P. M. | conference=Meteoroids: The Smallest Solar System Bodies, Proceedings of the Meteoroids Conference held in Breckenridge, Colorado, USA, May 24-28, 2010 | display-editors=1 | editor1-first=W. J. | editor1-last=Cooke | editor2-first=D. E. | editor2-last=Moser | editor3-first=B. F. | editor3-last=Hardin | editor4-first=D. | editor4-last=Janches | display-authors=1 | id=NASA/CP-2011-216469 | pages=7–13 | date=July 2011 | bibcode=2011msss.conf....7J | url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20110016615/downloads/20110016615.pdf | access-date=2025-08-16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=IAU Meteor Data Center-the shower database: A status report | last1=Jopek | first1=Tadeusz Jan | last2=Kaňuchová | first2=Zuzana | journal=Planetary and Space Science | volume=143 | pages=3–6 | date=September 2017 | doi=10.1016/j.pss.2016.11.003 | arxiv=1607.00661 | bibcode=2017P&SS..143....3J }}</ref>

==Origin of meteoroid streams ==
[[File:Ssc2005-04a medium.jpg|thumb|[[Comet Encke]]'s meteoroid trail is the diagonal red glow.]]
[[File:Sig06-011 medium.jpg|thumb|Meteoroid trail between fragments of [[Comet 73P]]]]

A meteor shower results from an interaction between a planet, such as Earth, and streams of debris from a [[comet]] (or occasionally an [[asteroid]]). Comets can produce debris by water vapor drag, as demonstrated by [[Fred Whipple]] in 1951,<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Whipple | first=F. L. | year=1951 | title=A Comet Model. II. Physical Relations for Comets and Meteors | journal=Astrophysical Journal | volume=113 | page=464 | bibcode=1951ApJ...113..464W | doi=10.1086/145416 | doi-access=free }}</ref> and by breakup. Whipple envisioned comets as "dirty snowballs", made up of rock embedded in ice, orbiting the [[Sun]]. The "ice" may be [[water]], [[methane]], [[ammonia]], or other [[Volatile (astrogeology)|volatiles]], alone or in combination. The "rock" may vary in size from a dust mote to a small boulder. Dust mote sized solids are [[orders of magnitude]] more common than those the size of sand grains, which, in turn, are similarly more common than those the size of pebbles, and so on. When the ice warms and sublimates, the vapor can drag along dust, sand, and pebbles.

Each time a comet swings by the Sun in its [[orbit]], some of its ice vaporizes, and a certain number of meteoroids will be shed.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Selected mechanisms of matter ejection out of the cometary nuclei | display-authors=1 | last1=Wesołowski | first1=M. | last2=Gronkowski | first2=P. | last3=Tralle | first3=I. | journal=Icarus | volume=338 | at=id. 113546 | date=March 2020 | article-number=113546 | doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2019.113546 | bibcode=2020Icar..33813546W | doi-access=free }}</ref> The meteoroids spread out along the entire trajectory of the comet to form a meteoroid stream, also known as a "dust trail"<ref>{{cite book | chapter=Motion of cometary dust | last=Fulle | first=M. | title=Comets II | display-editors=1 | editor1-first=M. C. | editor1-last=Festou | editor2-first=H. U. | editor2-last=Keller | editor3-first=H. A. | editor3-last=Weaver | publisher=University of Arizona Press | location=Tucson | pages=565–575 | year=2004 | bibcode=2004come.book..565F | chapter-url=https://www2.ifa.hawaii.edu/UHNAI/ws/readings/fulle.pdf | access-date=2025-08-16 }}</ref> (as opposed to a comet's "gas tail" caused by the tiny particles that are quickly blown away by solar radiation pressure).

Recently, [[Peter Jenniskens]] has argued that most of our short-period meteor showers are not from the normal water vapor drag of active comets, but the product of infrequent disintegrations, when large chunks break off a mostly dormant comet. Examples are the [[Quadrantids]] and [[Geminids]], which originated from a breakup of asteroid-looking objects, {{mpl|196256|2003 EH|1}} and [[3200 Phaethon]], respectively, about 500 and 1000 years ago. The fragments tend to fall apart quickly into dust, sand, and pebbles and spread out along the comet's orbit to form a dense meteoroid stream, which subsequently evolves into Earth's path.<ref name="Jenniskens P. 2006">{{cite book | last=Jenniskens | first=P. | year=2006 | title=Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge, U.K. | pages=355–472 | isbn=978-1-316-34782-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14zKCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA378 }}</ref>

==Dynamical evolution of meteoroid streams ==

Shortly after Whipple predicted that dust particles traveled at low speeds relative to the comet, Milos Plavec was the first to offer the idea of a ''dust trail'', when he calculated how meteoroids, once freed from the comet, would drift mostly in front of or behind the comet after completing one orbit. The effect is simple [[celestial mechanics]]&nbsp;– the material drifts only a little laterally away from the comet while drifting ahead or behind the comet because some particles make a wider orbit than others.<ref name="Jenniskens P. 2006" /> These dust trails are sometimes observed in comet images taken at mid infrared wavelengths (heat radiation), where dust particles from the previous return to the Sun are spread along the orbit of the comet.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Cometary dust trails I. Survey | last1=Sykes | first1=Mark V. | last2=Walker | first2=Russell G. | journal=Icarus | volume=95 | issue=2 | pages=180–210 | date=February 1992 | doi=10.1016/0019-1035(92)90037-8 | bibcode=1992Icar...95..180S }}</ref>

The gravitational pull of the planets determines where the dust trail would pass by Earth orbit, much like a gardener directing a hose to water a distant plant. Most years, those trails would miss the Earth altogether, but in some years, the Earth is showered by meteors. This effect was first demonstrated from observations of the 1995 [[alpha Monocerotids]],<ref>{{cite journal | last=Jenniskens | first=P. | year=1997 | title=Meteor stream activity IV. Meteor outbursts and the reflex motion of the Sun | journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics | volume=317 | pages=953–961 | bibcode=1997A&A...317..953J }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | display-authors=1 | last1=Jenniskens | first1=P. | last2=Betlem | first2=H. | last3=De Lignie | first3=M. | last4=Langbroek | first4=M. | year=1997 | title=The detection of a dust trail in the orbit of an Earth-threatening long-period comet | journal=Astrophysical Journal | volume=479 | issue=1 | pages=441–447 | doi=10.1086/303853 | bibcode=1997ApJ...479..441J }}</ref> and from earlier not widely known identifications of past Earth storms.

Over more extended periods, the dust trails can evolve in complicated ways. For example, the orbits of some repeating comets, and meteoroids leaving them, are in [[resonant orbits]] with [[Jupiter]] or one of the other large planets&nbsp;– so many revolutions of one will equal another number of the other. This creates a shower component called a filament.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Dynamical resonant structures in meteoroid stream orbits | display-authors=1 | last1=Soja | first1=R. H. | last2=Baggaley | first2=W. J. | last3=Brown | first3=P. | last4=Hamilton | first4=D. P. | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=414 | issue=2 | pages=1059–1076 | date=June 2011 | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18442.x | doi-access=free | bibcode=2011MNRAS.414.1059S }}</ref>

A second effect is a close encounter with a planet. When the meteoroids pass by Earth, some are accelerated (making wider orbits around the Sun), others are decelerated (making shorter orbits), resulting in gaps in the dust trail in the next return (like opening a curtain, with grains piling up at the beginning and end of the gap).  Also, Jupiter's perturbation can dramatically change sections of the dust trail, especially for a short period comets, when the grains approach the giant planet at their furthest point along the orbit around the Sun, moving most slowly. As a result, the trail has a ''clumping'', a ''braiding'' or a ''tangling'' of ''crescents'', of each release of material.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

The third effect is that of [[radiation pressure]] which will push less massive particles into orbits further from the Sun&nbsp;– while more massive objects (responsible for [[bolide]]s or [[Glowworm (astronomy)|fireball]]s) will tend to be affected less by radiation pressure. This makes some dust trail encounters rich in bright meteors, others rich in faint meteors.{{cn|date=August 2025}} Over time, these effects disperse the meteoroids and create a broader stream. The meteors we see from these streams are part of ''annual showers'', because Earth encounters those streams every year at much the same rate.

When the meteoroids collide with other meteoroids in the [[Zodiacal dust|zodiacal cloud]], they lose their stream association and become part of the "sporadic meteors" background.{{cn|date=August 2025}} Long since dispersed from any stream or trail, they form isolated meteors, not a part of any shower. These random meteors will not appear to come from the radiant of the leading shower.

== Famous meteor showers ==
[[File:Meteor_Shower_Calendar-2021.png|thumb|Meteor shower calendar for 2021 shows the peak dates, radiant point, ZHR, and origins of the meteors]]
The peak rate of a meteor shower is measured by the [[zenith hourly rate]] (ZHR), which is the expected number of meteors visible to the naked eye when the radiant point is at the [[zenith]]; that is, at the highest point in the night sky. For younger streams that are more clumpy, the rate can vary year to year with peak meteor "storms" occurring with the orbital period of the stream. Some storms have measured hundreds and even thousands of meteors per hour. The showers typically showing the highest ZHR are the [[Perseids]] (75/hr), [[Geminids]] (75/hr), and [[Quadrantids]] (60/hr).<ref name=Nicolson_1999>{{cite book | title=Unfolding Our Universe | first=Iain | last=Nicolson | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-521-59270-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5iacbufd4kEC&pg=PA113 }}</ref>

=== Perseids and Leonids ===

In most years, the most reliable meteor shower is the [[Perseids]], which peak on 12 August of each year at over one meteor per minute.<ref>{{cite book | title=Falling Stars: A Guide to Meteors & Meteorites | first=Mike D. | last=Reynolds | edition=2 | publisher=Stackpole Books | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-8117-4221-4 | page=40 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxKwBdXgIGAC&pg=PA40 }}</ref> NASA has an [http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html estimator tool] to calculate how many meteors per hour are visible from one's observing location.

The [[Leonids|Leonid]] meteor shower peaks around 17 November of each year. In multiples of 33 years, the Leonid shower produces a meteor storm peaking at rates of thousands of meteors per hour.<ref name=Nicolson_1999/> {{citation needed span|date=August 2025|Leonid storms gave birth to the term ''meteor shower'' when it was first realised that, during the November 1833 storm, the meteors radiated from near the star Gamma Leonis.}} The last Leonid storms were in 1999, 2001 (two), and 2002 (two). Before that, there were storms in 1767, 1799, 1833, 1866, 1867, and 1966.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Ready for the storm | last=Jenniskens | first=Peter | journal=Radiant, Journal of the Dutch Meteor Society | volume=23 | issue=5 | page=91 | year=2001 | bibcode=2001Rad....23...91J }}</ref> When the Leonid shower is not ''storming'', it is less active than the Perseids.<ref name=Nicolson_1999/>

=== Other meteor showers ===
{{further|List of meteor showers}}

==== Established meteor showers ====

Official names are given in the International Astronomical Union's list of meteor showers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2015 |title=List of all meteor showers |url=http://www.astro.amu.edu.pl/~jopek/MDC2007/ |publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]]}}</ref>
{{clear|right}}{{Expand list|date=August 2017}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width=25% | Shower
! width=20% | Time
! Parent object
|-
| [[Quadrantids]]
| early January
| The same as the parent object of minor planet {{mpl|2003 EH|1}},<ref>
{{Cite journal |last=Jenniskens |first=P. |date=March 2004 |title=2003 EH<sub>1</sub> is the Quadrantid shower parent comet |journal=Astronomical Journal |volume=127 |issue=5 |pages=3018–3022 |bibcode=2004AJ....127.3018J |doi=10.1086/383213 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[Qingyang event#Coincidental comet and megatsunami|Comet C/1490 Y1]].<ref name="Ball">{{Cite journal |last=Ball |first=Phillip |year=2003 |title=Dead comet spawned New Year meteors |url=http://www.nature.com/news/2003/031231/full/news031229-5.html |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |doi=10.1038/news031229-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Haines">Haines, Lester, [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/quadrantid_meteors/ Meteor shower traced to 1490 comet break-up: Quadrantid mystery solved], ''[[The Register]]'', January 8, 2008.</ref> Comet C/1385 U1 has also been studied as a possible source.<ref>{{Cite journal | display-authors=1 | first1=Marco | last1=Micheli | last2=Fabrizio | first2=Bernardi | first3=David J. | last3=Tholen |date=May 16, 2008 |title=Updated analysis of the dynamical relation between asteroid {{mp|2003 EH|1}} and comets C/1490 Y1 and C/1385 U1 |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters |volume=390 |issue=1 |pages=L6–L8 |arxiv=0805.2452 |bibcode=2008MNRAS.390L...6M |doi=10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00510.x |doi-access=free |s2cid=119299384}}</ref>
|-
| [[Lyrids]]
| late April
| Comet [[Thatcher (Comet)|Thatcher]]<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Lyrids meteor shower: A historical perspective | display-authors=1 | last1=Martínez Usó | first1=M. J. | last2=Marco Castillo | first2=F. J. | last3=López Ortí | first3=J. A. | journal=Planetary and Space Science | date=November 2023 | volume=238 | article-number=105803 | doi=10.1016/j.pss.2023.105803 | bibcode=2023P&SS..23805803M | hdl=10234/205174 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>
|-
| [[Pi Puppids]] (periodic)
| late April
| Comet [[26P/Grigg–Skjellerup]]<ref>{{cite conference | title=What happened with pi-Puppids in April 2003? | last=Vaubaillon | first=J. | conference=Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Bollmannsruh, Germany, September 19-21, 2003 | editor1-last=Triglav-Čekada | editor1-first=M. | editor2-last=Trayner | editor2-first=C. | publisher=International Meteor Organization | pages=140–143 | year=2004 | bibcode=2004pimo.conf..140V }}</ref>
|-
| [[Eta Aquariids]]
| early May
| Comet [[1P/Halley]]
|-
| [[Arietids]]
| mid-June
| Comet [[96P/Machholz]], [[Marsden comet group|Marsden]] and [[Kracht comet group|Kracht]] comet groups complex<ref name="MeteorShowers" /><ref name="96p">{{Cite journal |last1=Sekanina, Zdeněk |last2=Chodas, Paul W. |date=December 2005 |title=Origin of the Marsden and Kracht Groups of Sunskirting Comets. I. Association with Comet 96P/Machholz and Its Interplanetary Complex |journal=Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=551 |bibcode=2005ApJS..161..551S |doi=10.1086/497374 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| [[Beta Taurids]]
| late June
| Comet [[2P/Encke]]
|-
| [[June Bootids]] (periodic)
| late June
| Comet [[7P/Pons-Winnecke]]
|-
| [[Southern Delta Aquariids]]
| late July
| Comet [[96P/Machholz]], [[Marsden comet group|Marsden]] and [[Kracht comet group|Kracht]] comet groups complex<ref name="MeteorShowers" /><ref name="96p" />
|-
| [[Alpha Capricornids]]
| late July
| Comet [[169P/NEAT]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Vaubaillon |first2=J. |date=2010 |title=Minor Planet 2002 EX12 (=169P/NEAT) and the Alpha Capricornid Shower |journal=Astronomical Journal |volume=139 |issue=5 |pages=1822–1830 |bibcode=2010AJ....139.1822J |doi=10.1088/0004-6256/139/5/1822 |s2cid=59523258 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| [[Perseids]]
| mid-August
| Comet [[109P/Swift-Tuttle]]
|-
| [[Kappa Cygnids]]
| mid-August
| Minor planet [[2008 ED69]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Vaubaillon |first2=J. |date=2008 |title=Minor Planet 2008 ED69 and the Kappa Cygnid Meteor Shower |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/12801/1/JENaj08.pdf |journal=Astronomical Journal |volume=136 |issue=2 |pages=725–730 |bibcode=2008AJ....136..725J |doi=10.1088/0004-6256/136/2/725 |s2cid=122768057}}</ref>
|-
| [[Aurigids]] (periodic)
| early September
| Comet [[C/1911 N1 (Kiess)]]<ref name="Jenniskens Vaubaillon 2007 Unusual">{{Cite journal |last1=Jenniskens |first1=Peter |last2=Vaubaillon |first2=Jérémie |date=2007 |title=An Unusual Meteor Shower on 1 September 2007 |journal=[[Eos (journal)|Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union]] |volume=88 |issue=32 |pages=317–318 |bibcode=2007EOSTr..88..317J |doi=10.1029/2007EO320001 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| [[Draconids]] (periodic)
| early October
| Comet [[21P/Giacobini-Zinner]]
|-
| [[Orionids]]
| late October
| Comet [[1P/Halley]]
|-
| [[Southern Taurids]]
| early November
| Comet [[2P/Encke]]
|-
| [[Northern Taurids]]
| mid-November
| Minor planet {{mpl|2004 TG|10}} and others<ref name="MeteorShowers" /><ref name="Porubčan2006">{{Cite journal |last1=Porubčan |first1=V. |last2=Kornoš |first2=L. |last3=Williams |first3=I.P. |date=2006 |title=The Taurid complex meteor showers and asteroids |journal=Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnaté Pleso |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=103–117 |arxiv=0905.1639 |bibcode=2006CoSka..36..103P}}</ref>
|-
| [[Andromedids]] (periodic)
| mid-November
| Comet [[3D/Biela]]<ref name="Jenniskens Vaubaillon 2007 3D/Biela">{{Cite journal |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Vaubaillon |first2=J. |year=2007 |title=3D/Biela and the Andromedids: Fragmenting versus Sublimating Comets |url=http://authors.library.caltech.edu/12800/1/JENaj07b.pdf |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=134 |issue=3 |pages=1037 |bibcode=2007AJ....134.1037J |doi=10.1086/519074 |s2cid=18785028}}</ref>
|-
| [[Alpha Monocerotids]] (periodic)
| mid-November
| unknown<ref>{{Cite journal | display-authors=1 |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Betlem |first2=H. |last3=De Lignie |first3=M. |last4=Langbroek |first4=M. |date=1997 |title=The Detection of a Dust Trail in the Orbit of an Earth-threatening Long-Period Comet |journal=Astrophysical Journal |volume=479 |issue=1 |pages=441 |bibcode=1997ApJ...479..441J |doi=10.1086/303853 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
| [[Leonids]]
| mid-November
| Comet [[55P/Tempel-Tuttle]]
|-
| [[Phoenicids]] (periodic)
| early December
| Comet [[289P/Blanpain]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Lyytinen |first2=E. |date=2005 |title=Meteor Showers from the Debris of Broken Comets: D/1819 W1 (Blanpain), 2003 WY25, and the Phoenicids |journal=Astronomical Journal |volume=130 |issue=3 |pages=1286–1290 |bibcode=2005AJ....130.1286J |doi=10.1086/432469 |doi-access=}}</ref>
|-
| [[Geminids]]
| mid-December
| Minor planet [[3200 Phaethon]]<ref name="IAUC3881">{{Cite web |last=Brian G. Marsden |author-link=Brian G. Marsden |date=1983-10-25 |title=IAUC 3881: 1983 TB AND THE GEMINID METEORS; 1983 SA; KR Aur |url=http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03800/03881.html#Item0 |access-date=2011-07-05 |publisher=International Astronomical Union Circular}}</ref>
|-
| [[Ursids]]
| late December
| Comet [[8P/Tuttle]]<ref>{{Cite journal | display-authors=1 |last1=Jenniskens |first1=P. |last2=Lyytinen |first2=E. |last3=De Lignie |first3=M.C. |last4=Johannink |first4=C. |last5=Jobse |first5=K. |last6=Schievink |first6=R. |last7=Langbroek |first7=M. |last8=Koop |first8=M. |last9=Gural |first9=P. |last10=Wilson |first10=M.A. |last11=Yrjölä |first11=I. |last12=Suzuki |first12=K. |last13=Ogawa |first13=H. |last14=De Groote |first14=P. |date=2002 |title=Dust Trails of 8P/Tuttle and the Unusual Outbursts of the Ursid Shower |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1229852 |journal=Icarus |volume=159 |issue=1 |pages=197–209 |bibcode=2002Icar..159..197J |doi=10.1006/icar.2002.6855}}</ref>
|-
|Canis-Minorids
|
|
|}

== Extraterrestrial meteor showers ==
[[File:Earth Sol63A UFO-A067R1.jpg|thumb|Mars meteor by [[Spirit rover|MER ''Spirit'']] rover]]

Any other [[Solar System]] body with a reasonably transparent atmosphere can also have meteor showers.  As the Moon is in the neighborhood of Earth it can experience the same showers, but will have its own phenomena due to its lack of an atmosphere ''per se'', such as vastly increasing its [[sodium tail of the Moon|sodium tail]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hunten |first=D. M. |year=1991 |title=A possible meteor shower on the Moon |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1231305 |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=18 |issue=11 |pages=2101–2104 |bibcode=1991GeoRL..18.2101H |doi=10.1029/91GL02543}}</ref>  NASA now maintains an ongoing database of observed impacts on the moon<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lunar Impacts |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/lunar/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315104759/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/lunar/ |archive-date=2023-03-15 |website=[[NASA]]|date=13 February 2017 |last1=Mohon |first1=Lee }}</ref> maintained by the [[Marshall Space Flight Center]] whether from a shower or not.

Many planets and moons have impact craters dating back large spans of time. But new craters, perhaps even related to meteor showers are possible. Mars, and thus its moons, is known to have meteor showers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meteor showers at Mars |url=http://www.arm.ac.uk/~aac/meteors_on_mars.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070724073904/http://www.arm.ac.uk/~aac/meteors_on_mars.html |archive-date=2007-07-24 |access-date=2007-11-26}}</ref> These have not been observed on other planets as yet but may be presumed to exist. For Mars in particular, although these are different from the ones seen on Earth because of the different orbits of Mars and Earth relative to the orbits of comets. The Martian atmosphere has less than one percent of the density of Earth's at ground level; at their upper edges, where meteoroids strike, the two are more similar. Because of the similar air pressure at altitudes for meteors, the effects are much the same. Only the relatively slower motion of the meteoroids due to increased distance from the sun should marginally decrease meteor brightness. This is somewhat balanced because the slower descent means that Martian meteors have more time to ablate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Can Meteors Exist at Mars? |url=http://star.arm.ac.uk/~aac/atmos2.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701055010/http://star.arm.ac.uk/~aac/atmos2.jpg |archive-date=2017-07-01 |access-date=2006-12-30}}</ref>

On March 7, 2004, the panoramic camera on [[Mars Exploration Rover]] ''[[Spirit (rover)|Spirit]]'' recorded a streak which is now believed to have been caused by a meteor from a Martian meteor shower associated with comet [[114P/Wiseman-Skiff]].  A strong display from this shower was expected on December 20, 2007. Other showers speculated about are a "Lambda Geminid" shower associated with the [[Eta Aquariids]] of Earth (''i.e.'', both associated with [[Halley's Comet|Comet 1P/Halley]]), a "Beta Canis Major" shower associated with [[Comet 13P/Olbers]], and "Draconids" from [[5335 Damocles]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meteor Showers and their Parent Bodies |url=http://star.arm.ac.uk/~aac/showers.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003155932/http://star.arm.ac.uk/~aac/showers.jpg |archive-date=2008-10-03 |access-date=2006-12-30}}</ref>

Isolated massive impacts have been observed at Jupiter: The 1994 [[Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9]] which formed a brief trail as well, and successive events since then (see [[List of Jupiter events#Impact|List of Jupiter events]].) Meteors or meteor showers have been discussed for most of the objects in the Solar System with an atmosphere: Mercury,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rosemary M. Killen |last2=Joseph M. Hahn |date=December 10, 2014 |title=Impact Vaporization as a Possible Source of Mercury's Calcium Exosphere |journal=Icarus |volume=250 |pages=230–237 |bibcode=2015Icar..250..230K |doi=10.1016/j.icarus.2014.11.035 |hdl=2060/20150010116}}</ref> Venus,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Christou |first=Apostolos A. |year=2007 |title=The P/Halley Stream: Meteor Showers on Earth, Venus and Mars |journal=Earth, Moon, and Planets |volume=102 |issue=1–4 |pages=125–131 |doi=10.1007/s11038-007-9201-3 |s2cid=54709255}}</ref> Saturn's moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lakdawalla |first=Emily |author-link=Emily Lakdawalla |title=Meteor showers on Titan: an example of why Twitter is awesome for scientists and the public |url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/03061019-twitter-meteor-titan.html |access-date=3 June 2013}}

*Note also the [[Huygens (spacecraft)|''Huygens'' lander]] was studied for its meteoric entry and an observation campaign was attempted: [http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz/huygensentry.pdf An Artificial meteor on Titan?], by Ralph D. Lorenz, ''journal??'', vol 43, issue 5, October 2002, pp. 14–17 and {{cite journal | doi = 10.1029/2005JE002603 | volume=111 | title=Huygens entry emission: Observation campaign, results, and lessons learned | year=2006 | journal=Journal of Geophysical Research | last1 = Lorenz | first1 = Ralph D.| issue=E7 | article-number=2005JE002603 | bibcode=2006JGRE..111.7S11L | doi-access=free }}</ref> Neptune's moon [[Triton (moon)|Triton]],<ref>{{cite journal | title=Watching meteors on Triton |date=March 27, 2014 | url=http://www.columbia.edu/~alw2165/pesnell.pdf | access-date=2014-03-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327221352/http://www.columbia.edu/~alw2165/pesnell.pdf | archive-date=2014-03-27 | display-authors=1 | first1=W. Dean | last1=Pesnell | first2=J. M. | last2=Grebowsky | first3=Andrew L. | last3=Weisman | journal=Icarus | issue=169 | pages=482–491 }}</ref> and [[Pluto]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.planetary.brown.edu/planetary/documents/Micro_36/Abstracts/050_Kosarev_Nemtchinov.pdf | title=IR Flashes induced by meteoroid impacts onto Pluto's surface | first1=I. B. | last1=Kosarev | first2=I. V. | last2=Nemtchinov | journal=Microsymposium | volume=36 | id=MS 050 | year=2002 }}</ref>

==See also==

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[American Meteor Society]] (AMS)
* [[Earth-grazing fireball]]
* [[International Meteor Organization]] (IMO)
* [[List of meteor showers]]
* [[Meteor procession]]
* [[North American Meteor Network]] (NAMN)
* [[Radiant (meteor shower)|Radiant]] – point in the sky from which meteors appear to originate
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Meteor showers}}
<!--No need to link to sites with dates for the major meteor showers, these stay about the same year after year (and should already be in the article or in a nearby article (see WP:ELNO #1 for policy). No need to list more than one site with the same list of dates, that's redundant.--> 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060316204743/http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/meteors/article_91_2.asp Meteor Showers], by ''Sky and Telescope''
* [https://www.space.com/2677-famous-summer-meteor-showers.html Six Not-So-Famous Summer Meteor Showers] Joe Rao (SPACE.com)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040602234256/http://amsmeteors.org/index.html The American Meteor Society]
* [https://www.imo.net/ The International Meteor Organisation]
* [http://cams.seti.org/FDL/ Meteor Shower Portal] shows the direction of active showers each night on a celestial sphere.

{{Meteor showers}}
{{Modern impact events}}
{{Planetary defense}}
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[[Category:Meteor showers| ]]
[[Category:Astronomical events of the Solar System]]
[[Category:Atmospheric entry]]
[[Category:Meteoroids]]